Department for Transport

Public Transport: Repairs and Maintenance

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has a policy on the timescale for the renovation of public transport.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: In Northern Ireland, transport is an entirely devolved matter. However, looking more widely, on 12 October 2017, the Secretary of State for Transport published the Final Statement of Funds Available (SoFA) for the railway in England and Wales for Control Period 6, which covers the five years 2019 to 2024 and we expect around £47.9 billion to be spent on the railway during that time. We have some of the most intensively used railways in Europe, and this investment focuses on the essential work needed to ensure their safety and reliability, including funding to support a significant increase in renewals activity compared to the current period, and increased maintenance spend to allow Network Rail to meet the challenges of a busier network. The renovation of buses is a commercial matter for operators. However, since 2010, the Government has provided £67 million to local authorities in England to retrofit their existing bus fleet to a minimum Euro VI standard. Devolved authorities can implement their own retrofit schemes, with the Scottish Government recently launching the second round of their £7.5 million Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit (BEAR) Programme.

Highways England: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to devolve Highways England responsibilities within Greater Manchester to the Mayor or its component local authorities.

Jesse Norman: The Government does expect Highways England to work closely with city region mayors and local highway authorities so that local and strategic road networks operate in a highly integrated way. There are no plans to devolve Highways England’s responsibilities for the nation’s strategic roads where they pass through Greater Manchester (or other city regions). But the Government does expect Highways England to work closely with all city region mayors and local highway authorities so that local and strategic road networks can operate in a highly integrated way.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (b) Marine Management Organisation and (c) Maritime and Coastguard Agency on assessing and mitigating the risks that scrubber technology poses to UK waters and coastlines.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), or ’scrubbers’ as they are commonly known, are an internationally recognised technology which ships can use to comply with sulphur limits, providing an alternative to using low sulphur marine fuel. The systems are subject to controls at an international level through the adopted International Maritime Organization (IMO) Guidelines, which are mandatory. The Guidelines ensure sulphur dioxide emissions from scrubbers are equivalent or better than would be obtained from using compliant fuel. They also address water quality and environmental impacts, in order to mitigate risks to the marine environment. The Department and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, played an active role in the development of the Guidelines at both European and international level with input from the Marine Management Organisation, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, system manufacturers, as well as approval organisations and industry stakeholders. Ships’ installed scrubbers must be approved in accordance with the Guidelines before operating in UK waters.

Railway Signals

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2018 to Question 178321, what assessment he has made of the role of his Department in overseeing the introduction of the Automatic Power Change Over (APCO) system integration (a) across the InterCity Express programme and (b) at the Signalling Scheme Plan at Steventon Bridge.

Joseph Johnson: DfT is working together with the Rail Industry to enable facility for Automatic Power Change Over (APCO) on Intercity Express Trains on the East Coast and Great Western routes. This includes appropriate power change over arrangements at Steventon Bridge. I understand that Network Rail have launched a formal appeal to the Planning Inspectorate against the local authority decision to refuse planning permission for replacing Steventon Bridge.

Railways: Industrial Disputes

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2018 to Question 178322 on Train Operating Companies: Pay, what (a) locus, (b) authority or (c) remit the Rail Delivery Group has to intervene in rail industry industrial relations.

Joseph Johnson: I refer the hon Member to the written Answer I gave on 13 September to Question 170780 on the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) which sets out the RDG’s role in rail industrial relations. Ultimately, the day to day responsibility for managing industrial relations or any dispute in the rail sector will be a matter for the individual employers and trade unions.

Train Operating Companies and Network Rail: Databases

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) open and closed data, (b) data produced legacy systems, (c) data owned or created by train operating companies and (d) data from Network Rail.

Joseph Johnson: To answer parts (a), (b) and (c) of the question, the DfT has worked with the rail industry to publish a Joint Rail Data Action Plan. This outlines the Government’s assessment on open and closed rail data, and sets out a number of actions the rail industry will take to ensure data is being shared and used for the benefit of the railways and rail passengers. This plan will ensure a shift in the railway industry’s approach to using and sharing its data, including new datasets to be made openly available, improvement on how data is collected and classified and new initiatives to bring the rail and technology sectors together. This will drive forward innovation within the rail industry and forge partnerships with the developer community so that the use of data is maximised and more accurate and up-to-date information is put into the hands of the passengers. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/joint-rail-data-action-plan To answer part (d) of the question, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) monitor data quality through the use of Independent Reporters as part of their role as the rail regulator. These provide assessments of data quality for Network Rail’s data. The metrics and datasets they assess are given a grading based on system reliability and data accuracy. These assessment reports are published on the ORR’s website.http://orr.gov.uk/rail/economic-regulation/regulation-of-network-rail/monitoring-performance/independent-reporters

South Western Rail Franchise

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings his Department has held with (a) First Group and (b) MTR on renegotiating the South Western franchise.

Joseph Johnson: I can confirm that the Department has not had any such meetings with either First Group or MTR.

South Western Rail Franchise

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the shortfall in revenues on the South Western rail franchise as a result of the December 2018 timetable not being introduced.

Joseph Johnson: All franchise payments between the Department and franchisee are commercially sensitive and therefore confidential.

Cross Country Rail Franchise

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for the procurement of new rolling stock on the Cross Country rail franchise.

Joseph Johnson: The timeframes for the new franchise are yet to be determined. It would be for an operator of the franchise to establish their specific rolling stock requirements.

London North Eastern Railway

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) instructions and (b) delivery timeframes he has issued to (i) LNER and (ii) Network Rail to develop the proposals for the LNER network.

Joseph Johnson: The Secretary of State has set up the East Coast Partnership Board which brings together LNER and Network Rail along with representation for freight and other East Coast Main Line train operators (the Partnership) to collaborate on the planning of enhancements, ensuring improved coordination in delivery and greater passenger focus. The Partnership will jointly be able to take decisions about planning, maintenance and enhancement works alongside the interests of passengers to make sure that the two fit side by side. The evolution to the East Coast Partnership has already commenced allowing for deeper collaboration and joint working to improve performance and plan enhancements. Specifically, Network Rail has been instructed to deliver power supply upgrades between Doncaster and Edinburgh, a new rail junction near Peterborough, a new platform at Stevenage station and improvements to the track layout at King’s Cross. These enhancements will be completed in the early 2020s.

Railways and Aviation: Fares

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) rail and (b) air fares that were booked online in each of the last three years.

Jesse Norman: (a) DfT does not routinely hold data on the number of rail fares booked online. (b) The proportions of surveyed air passengers departing selected UK airports that booked their air ticket online in each of the last three years are shown in the table below. Proportion of passengers booking their air ticket through the internet, 2015-2017 Source: CAA Departing Passenger Survey Survey airport201520162017Birmingham77.60%76.90%76.10%Bristol79.60%--Cardiff68.80%--East Midlands80.50%78.50%-Leeds Bradford--29.50%London City64.90%65.30%67.20%Heathrow-68.30%69.60%Liverpool94.00%93.00%91.10%Manchester69.30%69.60%70.40%Newcastle--74.10%Stansted93.10%89.80%92.80%Unweighted sample size64,16148,83657,777Note:1Based on the question Where did you book your ticket?' asked as part of the CAA departing passenger survey. The CAA departing passenger survey is asked at a selection of UK airports every year to obtain information about air travellers and the determinants of the travel market.2'-' indicates that the airport was not surveyed in the year, or the question of ticket booking was not asked to passengers.3Booking through the internet can entail booking online with the airline directly or through a tour operator/travel agent.4Passengers surveyed may be of any residency, and are either travelling from a UK airport or passing through a UK airport when surveyed.

Arriva Rail North and First TransPennine Express

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a) Arriva Rail North and (b) First Transpennine spent one per cent of their revenue on innovation in each year of their franchise required by the Innovation in Franchising Fund.

Joseph Johnson: The franchise agreements with Northern and TransPennine Express (TPE) require them to deposit an amount equal to 1% of their estimated turnover for each Innovation Year, into an Innovation Account, within seven day of the start of that Innovation Year. The Innovation in Franchising Fund is made available to the franchisee to promote innovation, and the successful exploitation of new ideas, which can be new to the company, organisation, industry or sector. It applies to products services, business processes and models, marketing and enabling technologies. The franchisee may draw from the fund to deliver their proposed schemes that are agreed by the Department. Northern’s Year 1 commenced 1 April 2018 and it is compliant with the relevant contractual obligations for that year. TPE’s first innovation year started 01 April 2017; for Innovation years 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 and 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019, TPE is compliant with the relevant contractual obligations.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the performance of GTR’s Class 700 in relation to Miles per Technical Incident in each of the last three reporting periods.

Joseph Johnson: Performance of the class 700 trains has steadily improved since they were first introduced in 2016, similarly to other new train fleets as initial teething issues are resolved. The Department continues to monitor the performance of the fleet to ensure that it can deliver train services for passengers across the network. The last of the new trains was accepted into passenger service earlier this summer. As further timetable changes are delivered, passengers will experience the full benefits of the Thameslink programme with improving reliability and higher capacity trains.

Great Western Railway: Rolling Stock

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of adequacy of the performance of Great Western Railway’s Class 800s in relation to Miles per Technical incident for the last three reporting periods.

Joseph Johnson: The introduction of the new IET fleet is similar to the experience with other new train fleets and we anticipate that performance will continue to improve as the full fleet is introduced and initial teething issues are resolved.The full benefits of these IETs, including faster journey times and increased capacity, will be delivered once the full fleet is in service and a new timetable has been introduced.

A12: Suffolk

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to allocate funding from his Department to improvements to the A12 between Ipswich and Lowestoft.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to allocate funding for a bypass on the A12 north of Wickham Market around the villages of (a) Marlesford, (b) Stratford St Andrew, (c) Farnham and (d) Little Glemham.

Jesse Norman: The Department is considering a funding request to the Large Local Majors Fund from Suffolk County Council for a bypass of the A12 around the villages of (a) Marlesford, (b) Stratford St Andrew, (c) Farnham and (d) Little Glemham. The Department will announce a decision in due course on whether or not to provide funding for the scheme.This stretch of the A12 between Ipswich and Lowestoft may be eligible to meet the objective criteria for inclusion on the proposed Major Road Network. If so, local authorities may bid for funding from the National Roads Fund, subject to any proposals meeting the usual business case and value for money requirements.

Aviation: Egypt

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the level of security of international passengers flying to Sharm El Sheikh airport.

Jesse Norman: It is for each country to determine the security requirements they need to protect civil aviation from terrorist attack. The UK Government continues to work closely with its Egyptian counterparts, sharing our expertise in establishing effective security arrangements at all Egyptian airports including Sharm el-Sheikh. However, it is long standing government policy not to comment in detail on security matters.

Department for Transport: Motor Vehicles

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2018 to Question 131715 on motor vehicles, what proportion of the fleet (a) owned and (b) leased by the (i) Government Car Service, (ii) Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency, (iii) Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency, (iv) Maritime & Coastguard Agency and (v) Vehicle Certification Agency are ultra-low emission vehicles.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The table below lists the number of (a) owned (b) leased vehicles in the fleets operated by the Department for Transport and its Agencies. Department for Transport & Agencies FleetOutright PurchasedLeasedNumber of Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles% of Fleet Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles GCS, Government Car Service DfTc865910.47%MCA, Maritime & Coastguard Agency447000%DVSA, Driver Vehicle & Standards Agency28297700%VCA, Vehicle Certification Agency42350%DVLA, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency027933.33% The Chancellor announced in the Autumn Statement 2017 that 25% of cars in the central government fleets will be ultra-low emission by 2022.

Bus Services: Wallasey

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many supported bus services have been provided in Wallasey constituency in each year since 2010.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Up until 31 December 2013 Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) was paid directly to bus operators and was not split between commercially run or subsidised bus services. We are therefore unable to provide figures for this period. From 1 January 2014 local authorities have received funding equivalent to the level of BSOG which would otherwise have been paid to operators for running subsidised services in 2014. Details of the amounts paid to local authorities each year can be found on the “Payments to Local Authorities” tab of the relevant spreadsheets published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bus-services-grants-and-funding#bsog-spend

Bus Services: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in the (a) number and (b) frequency of bus services serving (i) the North West, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) Wallasey constituency in each of the last eight years.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Data on vehicle miles on local bus services by local authority and regional area, including Merseyside and the North West region, is available for the years 2013/14 to 2016/17 in the data table BUS0208 in the Annual Bus Statistics for each respective year at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bus-statistics#published-in-2018 . Bus operators must register their services with a Traffic Commissioner in the traffic area in which the service operates. The Traffic Commissioners’ annual reports provide information on the number of live local bus registrations in the North Western Traffic Area as at 31 March of each year; this information can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/traffic-commissioners-annual-reports. The report for the year ending March 2010 can be found here: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20131113220328/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-commissioners-annual-reports Figures for Wallasey constituency are not held.

Transport: Infrastructure

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to transport infrastructure projects in each region of England in each of the past three years; and what estimate he has made of that funding per head of population in those regions.

Jesse Norman: Figures on public sector expenditure at a regional level are part of the Government’s Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) statistics. The latest CRA statistics, published by HM Treasury in November 2017, present data up to 2016-17 and are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/country-and-regional-analysis.  The statistics include spend on transport by all public sector organisations including the Department for Transport, Local Authorities, Public Corporations (in the case of transport, this is mainly spend by London Underground) and other Government Departments including devolved administrations. When assessing expenditure across regions it is important to compare like with like. The benefits from spend on transport interventions often accrue to people far beyond the residents of the immediate local area or region. This is particularly the case for spending on the railways which connect cities and regions across the country and deliver broader benefits beyond the region concerned. Furthermore, when expenditure is presented on a “per head of population”(or “per capita”) basis, it does not account for the pressure that large numbers of commuters and visitors from outside a region can add to the transport networks. In addition, larger built-up areas tend to make greater use of mass public transport systems, though these will generate fares income which contributes to their operating costs. Statistics for public sector capital expenditure by region are given in Table 1 below. Table 2 provides the equivalent statistics per capita. Capital expenditure has been used as a proxy for spending on infrastructure specifically.  Table 1: Capital spending on all transport, by all public sector bodies£millions nominalRegion2014-152015-1612016-17England - East1,1761,4041,450England - East Midlands749799666England - London4,5505,2476,082England - North East417474520England - North West1,3581,8911,775England - South East1,5712,0022,211England - South West8021,0081,165England - West Midlands1,0801,3331,260England - Yorkshire and Humber1,0851,2971,092England12,78715,45516,221 1Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2017 Table 2: Capital spending, on all transport, by all public sector bodies, per capita£s nominalRegion2014-152015-1612016-17England - East195231236England - East Midlands161171141England - London533605693England - North East159181197England - North West190264246England - South East177224245England - South West148184211England - West Midlands189232217England - Yorkshire and Humber202241201England2352822931Due to the reclassification of Network Rail into the public sector from 2015-16, care should be taken when making historical comparisons.Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2017 For future years, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s (IPA) National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline (NCIP) 2017 shows regional transport spend. Analysis of the NCIP shows that central government transport investment is more balanced across regions than previous reports have suggested. The table below sets out the allocation of central government transport capital spending in the pipeline between 2017/18 and 2020/21, per head and across regions [1]RegionInvestment per capita £ (2016/17 prices)East of England994East Midlands946London[1]1,026North East822North West1,353South East1,139South West851West Midlands1,269Yorkshire and the Humber726   [1] As this table only looks at transport capital spending funded by central government, TfL expenditure is excluded. TfL’s capital programme is funded by a mixture of locally-retained business rates and fare receipts from TfL-operated services, and from 2017/18 onwards it receives no direct central government funding. However, DfT does directly fund major transport projects across London, such as Crossrail, and Thameslink[1] As this table only looks at transport capital spending funded by central government, TfL expenditure is excluded. TfL’s capital programme is funded by a mixture of locally-retained business rates and fare receipts from TfL-operated services, and from 2017/18 onwards it receives no direct central government funding. However, DfT does directly fund major transport projects across London, such as Crossrail, and Thameslink

Network Rail: Resignations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Network Rail staff have left employment with a discretionary payment in each of the last three years; and how much each payment was.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail does not make discretionary payments to leavers. Network Rail does, on occasion, make ‘special severance payments’. These are outside of the usual severance arrangements as part of settlement agreements. All ‘special severance payments’ are approved by HMT and information about these are published on the transparency section of Network Rail’s website, available at: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/transparency-and-ethics/transparency/datasets/

Network Rail: Disclosure of Information

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish Network Rail's policy on whistleblowing.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail’s whistleblowing policy is published online on the Network Rail website and is available at: https://cdn.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Speak-Out-Policy-2017.pdf

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Energy: Medway

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support the renewable energy sector in (a) Medway and (b) Gillingham and Rainham constituency.

Claire Perry: a) Two renewable electricity generation sites in Medway receive government support through the Renewables Obligation; Shakespeare Farm Landfill, and Malmaynes Solar. b) The government is not aware of any such sites in the Gillingham and Rainham constituency. The RHI scheme currently supports 47 renewable heating systems in Medway, this includes Gillingham and Rainham. Additionally, there are 103,123 Feed-In Tariff accredited sites in the South East region.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department allocated to (a) photovoltaic and (b) non-photovoltaic installations through the export tariff of the Feed-in-Tariff for financial year 2017-2018.

Claire Perry: The cost of export tariff payments under the Feed-In Tariffs scheme are met through consumer bills rather than direct funding from this Department.

Electricity: Consumption

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many terawatt hours of electricity were consumed in the UK in the last 12 months.

Claire Perry: The most recent electricity consumption figures available cover the twelve month period from the start of July 2017 to the end of June 2018. During this period, total UK electricity demand was 355.1 terawatt hours. Subtracting energy industry usage, as well as transmission and distribution losses, the final electricity consumption by industry, business and domestic users in the UK was 301.7 terawatt hours during this period. These figures can be found on the National Statistics website here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends.

Electricity: Consumption

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many gigawhatt hours of electricity supplied by interconnectors was consumed in the UK in the last two 12 months periods.

Claire Perry: In the 12 months from the start of the third quarter of 2017 to the end of the second quarter 2018, 20,485.12 GWh were supplied by interconnector imports.In the 12 months from the start of the third quarter of 2016 to the end of the second quarter 2017, 16,933.35 GWh were supplied by interconnector imports. Source: Energy Trends, National Statistics, table 5.6 (published quarterly) available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends

Electricity Interconnectors: Exports

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many gigawatt hours of electricity was exported from the UK through interconnectors in (a) the last 12 months and (b) 2012.

Claire Perry: The total gigawatt hours of electricity exported from the UK through interconnectors in (a) the 12 months from the start of the third quarter of 2017 to the end of the second quarter of 2018 was 3,023.6 GWh, and (b) 1,910.39 GWh in 2012. Source: Energy Trends, National Statistics, table 5.6 (published quarterly) available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends

Energy Supply

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of  the UK electricity supply was provide by each fuel source including electricity provided by interconnectors in (a) 2012 and (b) 2017.

Claire Perry: The share of UK electricity generated domestically plus net imports, by each fuel source in a) 2012 and b) 2017 was:  20122017Coal38.0%6.4%Oil0.8%0.5%Gas26.7%38.7%Nuclear18.7%19.9%Hydro1.4%1.7%Wind5.3%14.1%Solar photovoltaics0.4%3.3%Other renewables3.9%9.0%Other0.9%1.5%Pumped Storage0.8%0.8%Net imports3.2%4.2%Total generation plus net imports100.0%100.0% Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics, tables 5.6 (generation by fuel), 6.4 (wind & solar) and 5.1 (net imports) https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Electricity Interconnectors: Imports

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many terawatt hours of electricity have been imported into the UK by individual interconnectors since 2012.

Claire Perry: Between 2012 and 2017 (inclusive), GB imported 67.85 TWh of electricity via the IFA interconnector from France, 42.88 TWh of electricity via the BritNed interconnector from Netherlands, and 2.99 TWh of electricity via the East-West interconnector from Ireland. In addition, Northern Ireland imported 1.97 TWh of electricity from Ireland as part of the all-island, shared Single Electricity Market. Source: Energy Trends, National Statistics, table 5.6 (published quarterly) available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-section-5-energy-trends.

Electricity Interconnectors

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will list the operational interconnectors in the UK and their capacity in megawatt.

Claire Perry: GB currently has 3.5GW (3500MW) of operational interconnection capacity to other countries: the 2GW (2000MW) IFA interconnector to France; the 1GW (1000MW) BritNed interconnector to Netherlands; and the 500MW East-West interconnector to Ireland. In addition there are a number of smaller connections between Northern Ireland and Ireland as part of the all-island, shared Single Electricity Market, as well as the 500MW Moyle interconnector that links Northern Ireland to GB.

Electricity Interconnectors

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will list the proposed new interconnector capacity for (a) 2020 and (b) 2025 in megawatts.

Claire Perry: The UK has a pipeline of interconnector projects that are expected to play a role in providing reliable, affordable, and clean energy. Based on current project timelines and assuming all projects are able to complete, 3GW (3000MW) of new interconnector capacity is due to be operational by the end of 2020. A further 1.4GW (1400MW) is also currently under construction for delivery after 2020 but before 2025. There are a further 9.5GW (9500MW) of projects which are seeking regulatory approval and which if constructed could be complete by 2025.

Energy Supply: Prices

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average price of electricity supplied by interconnectors was in the last year compared with the average price supplied by all other electricity generation in Great Britain.

Claire Perry: The electricity supplied over interconnections is traded by commercial parties, and we do not hold the information requested on the details of these trades.

Energy Supply: Prices

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average price is that interconnectors pay to use the electricity transmission network compared with the price paid by domestic generators of electricity.

Claire Perry: According to National Grid, the average transmission network use of system charge for a GB generator is £5.98 / kW (2018/19 tariffs). The actual tariff is dependent on the location of the generator, the historic load factor of the generator, the type of generator and details of its specific connection. As interconnectors are part of the transmission network, they do not pay use of system charges for the network. Generators and consumers in different countries are liable for charges in those countries.

Electricity Interconnectors

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential to increase exports and imports of electricity through new and existing interconnectors; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, 4.4 gigawatts of new interconnector capacity is currently under construction, and regulatory assessments indicate the potential for at least 9.5 gigawatts more. Import and export flows on interconnectors are determined by prices in the connected markets. Power should flow from the lower priced market to the higher priced market. This determines the levels of exports and imports on existing interconnectors.

Electricity Interconnectors

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of UK-based electricity generators on the market advantages experienced by (a) interconnectors and (b) companies that propose the construction of interconnectors.

Claire Perry: We regularly meet with representatives of UK based electricity generators on a range of matters, including on electricity interconnector policy. The department also consults industry on policy relating to interconnectors. For example, over the summer the Department held a Call for Evidence for the Capacity Market Review. One of the priority issues for this Capacity Market Review is the contribution that interconnectors make to security of supply and whether they are compensated appropriately.

Energy

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to establish an independent UK energy policy after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019; and if will he make a statement.

Claire Perry: As set out in the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union white paper, published on the 12 July, the UK is seeking broad energy cooperation with the EU including arrangements for trade in electricity and gas, cooperation with EU Agencies and bodies, and data sharing to facilitate market operations. Whatever our future relationship with the EU we remain committed to delivering affordable, secure and low-carbon energy.

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the UK is planned to remain bound by the EU Renewable Energy Directive after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019.

Claire Perry: Leaving the EU will not affect the UK's commitment to domestic and international efforts to tackle climate change. Renewable technologies now form a very significant part of the UK’s energy mix and will continue to do so into the future. Renewable energy will have a key role to play in delivering our ambitious Clean Growth Strategy.The UK has already transposed elements of the original Renewable Energy Directive, in particular the target of 15% of the UK’s energy coming from renewables by 2020, with the Promotion of the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources Regulations 2011.The UK will consider the extent of our longer term cooperation with the EU on renewable energy as part of the wider EU Exit negotiations on our future energy partnership.

Electricity: Imports

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many terrawatt hours of electricity generated from coal fired power plants in the EU the UK has imported in each of the last five years.

Claire Perry: It is not possible to trace the precise source of the electricity transported through interconnectors. The precise generation mix that provides the imported electricity at any point in time will depend on a complex set of factors and, in particular, will vary depending on the characteristics of the exporting market.

Electricity Interconnectors

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the level of electricity generating margins in the EU on future Government policy in relation to interconnectors.

Claire Perry: When modelling interconnection’s contribution to security of supply through the Capacity Market we de-rate them to ensure we have enough reliable capacity to meet peak demand. This process happens on an annual basis. National Grid models a range of different sensitivities to do this, taking into account conditions in those countries that we are interconnected to. This year the de-rating factors of several interconnectors were lower than in previous years, in part reflecting tightening margins in the countries that they connect to.

Employment

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to (a) extend access to employment tribunals, and (b) improve employment rights for employees with less than two years’ service.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 31 October 2018



The Government is investing over £1bn in a programme of modernisation and reform of the courts and tribunals. These reforms will be implemented over a number of years, with reform of the Employment Tribunals scheduled for the latter part of the reform programme. We responded to the Taylor review of modern working practices in February 2018, committing to firm action and future legislation. We launched four consultations on the detail, including proposals that would improve clarity for recently recruited employees and a consultation on the enforcement of labour market rights. We are currently considering the responses and will respond in due course. Qualifying periods apply to certain employment rights so as to strike the right balance between fairness for employees and flexibility for employers, and so that employers are not discouraged from taking on new staff.

World War I and World War II: Medals

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a medal for women who worked in munitions factories during the world wars.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership: Staff

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many FTE staff have been employed by the Coast to Capital LEP in each of the last five years.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what major projects have been funded by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership since its creation.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the investment objectives are of the public funds distributed by the C2C Local Enterprise Partnership.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Capita

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which contracts awarded by his Department are operated by Capita.

Sir Alan Duncan: We centrally hold eleven contracts with Capita. These include the fire alarm upgrade works, the Diplomatic Academy learning space design and several Learning and Development courses.

Thailand: Ahmadiyya

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Thai counterpart on the arrest of 113 Ahmadi Muslims in that country.

Mark Field: We are following closely the recent detention in Thailand of approximately 100 people, mainly from Pakistan, whom the Thai authorities consider illegal immigrants. This follows arrests of Cambodian and Vietnamese nationals at the end of August. We understand approximately 200 people who claim refugee and asylum status are currently in immigration detention, and that some of these are registered with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We believe that the recent orders are not aimed at any specific group or groups but apply to anyone whom the Thai authorities deem an illegal visa over-stayer, as part of a general tightening of immigration enforcement. In September a senior official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised our concerns about the treatment of those in immigration detention with the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our Embassy in Bangkok repeated the UK’s concerns on the matter with the Thai National Security Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister on 18 October. We are also working with the Thai authorities to improve conditions of detention.

Political Prisoners: Bahrain

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that a UK Government trial monitor is present at each hearing of the retrial of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa in Bahrain.

Alistair Burt: Officials from the British Embassy regularly attend court hearings of cases of interest to the UK. We will continue to monitor the cases of Mohamed Ramadan and Husain Ali Moosa closely.

United Arab Emirates: Official Visits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the trip to the United Arab Emirates taken by the hon. Member for North East Bedfordshire in November 2017 was taken in his official ministerial capacity.

Alistair Burt: I attended the Sir Bani Yas Forum in the United Arab Emirates in November 2017 in my capacity as Minister for the Middle East and North Africa.​

United Arab Emirates: Official Visits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether civil servants accompanied the Minister of State for the Middle East on his visit to the UAE in November 2017.

Alistair Burt: I was accompanied by one official on my visit to the United Arab Emirates in November 2017.

India: Religious Freedom

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for freedom of religion in India of the recent action by Indian authorities against religious groups as a result of anti-conversion laws; and whether he has made representations to his Indian counterpart on that issue.

Mark Field: Voluntary conversion to a different religion is not a criminal offence in India. However, laws are active in six of India's 29 states that seek to prevent 'forced' conversion and make the legal process altogether more difficult. On freedom of religion more broadly, the British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions regularly meet with minority communities, including the National Commission of Minority Affairs. Additionally we have trained nine hundred minority students on faith issues in six universities across North India, and funded a community cohesion project which created a platform for 125 youth champions drawn from 26 colleges. This engaged with diverse religious communities through a series of workshops to initiate change, within themselves, their peers, and family as well as encouraging greater dialogue and understanding across communities.

Political Prisoners: Bahrain

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will ensure that there is a UK Government trial monitoring presence at each hearing of the retrial of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa in Bahrain.

Alistair Burt: Officials from the British Embassy regularly attend court hearings of cases of interest to the UK. We will continue to monitor the cases of Mohamed Ramadan and Husain Ali Moosa closely.

China: Foreign Relations

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made on improving relations between the UK and China.

Mark Field: The Prime Minister’s visit to China in January opened a new chapter in what has become known as the ‘Golden Era’ in UK-China relations. The recent meeting between the Prime Minister and Premier Li at the Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in October emphasised the broad mutual benefit from the relationship. Our aim is to maintain a strong partnership which supports economic growth for both countries and helps to tackle global challenges. This stronger partnership should mean we can have frank discussions on issues where we disagree.​

China: Religious Freedom

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on reports of the internment of Muslims in Xinjiang province; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and reports of the Chinese Government’s deepening crackdown, including credible reports of re-education camps and widespread surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities.The UK supports the statement of 26 October by the European External Action Service highlighting concerns about Xinjiang.I raised our concerns about Xinjiang with Vice Minister Guo Yezhou during my visit to China on 22 July 2018. The Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, also raised our concerns about the region with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his visit to China on 30 July 2018. The UK raised our concerns about Xinjiang in our Item 4 statement at the September UN Human Rights Council.​

Freedom of Expression

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Foreign Secretary announces free speech funding, published on 2 November 2017, how much of the £1 million free speech funding allocated to support freedom of expression projects globally has been spent to date.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Foreign Secretary announces free speech funding, published on 2 November 2017, how organisations apply for the funding announced in that press release.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Foreign Secretary announces free speech funding, published on 2 November 2017, what criteria applications for the funding announced in that press release are judged against.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Foreign Secretary announces free speech funding, published on 2 November 2017, what body makes decisions on applications for the funding announced in that press release.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Foreign Secretary announces free speech funding, published on 2 November 2017, how many applications for the funding announced in that press release have been (a) received and (b) decided on.

Mark Field: On 2 November 2017, the former Foreign Secretary announced that the UK would spend £1m "over the next financial year" on projects to support media freedom, in countries where it is under significant pressure. The FCO issued a call for bids for projects on Media Freedom through the Magna Carta Fund on www.Gov.uk in May 2018. Selected Posts around the network have also put out separate, country-specific calls for bids.  The criteria was for projects which addressed restrictions on media freedom, for example through legislation or policy, and/or supported the training and protection of journalists. Projects needed to offer good value for money and demonstrate potential for impact, sustainability and replication. Posts also took into account specific local criteria. Decisions on funding were made by officials within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and by officers at Posts around the network.  30 applications were received in relation to the call for bids on www.Gov.uk. A number of other bids have been received directly by our network of Posts. We have allocated over£1.5m for media freedom and freedom of expression projects this financial year under the Magna Carta Fund. We are funding 15 projects in 14 countries. Expenditure is ongoing as we have not reached the end of this financial year. Further programme funding is available for press freedom work through the Good Governance Fund which covers Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine, and through the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).

China: Organs

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to evaluate the credibility of the evidence of forced organ harvesting of religious prisoners of conscience in China.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports that allege that a process of involuntary organ removal may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The UK government fully supports the Declaration of Istanbul (May 2008), which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities.As the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Europe and the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan, stated in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.We continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.

China: Organs

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support the development of an independent international tribunal to investigate claims of forced organ harvesting in China.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports that allege that a process of involuntary organ removal may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The UK government fully supports the Declaration of Istanbul (May 2008), which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities.As the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Europe and the Americas, Sir Alan Duncan, stated in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.We continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.

British Council: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff (a) are employed directly by, (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract in the British Council.

Mark Field: (a) Employed directly -10750(b) Secondees - 0(c) Work under contract*- 1115Total 11865 * This figure is a total of external Non-Permanent Workers (NPW) that the British Council have recorded both in the UK and overseas, this however does not capture invigilators/examiners, those provided by other companies to fulfil contracts or other cases of short term duration external workers.

Attorney General

Crown Prosecution Service

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Attorney General, if he will ensure that only the Crown Prosecution Service is able to make decisions on the charging of individuals.

Robert Buckland: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes criminal cases that have been investigated by the police and other investigative organisations in England and Wales.The statutory framework that determines by whom an offence is charged is set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.The CPS determines the appropriate charges in more serious or complex cases. Minor offences are charged by the police.The CPS advises the police on cases for possible prosecution, and reviews cases submitted by the police for prosecution in accordance with the principles set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Public Law: Education

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to improve public legal education.

Robert Buckland: Teaching people about their legal rights and responsibilities, together with helping them gain the confidence and skills to get access to justice can really make a difference to people’s lives – as well as our legal system. To further this work, the Government is working closely with partners across the PLE community, including representitives from the Citizenship Foundation, The Law Society, Bar Council, Magistrates’ Association, and Citizens Advice, among others.On 31 October, as part of Justice Week, we launched the new vision statement for Public Legal Education. The statement creates a shared vision, which will help drive forward legal education initiatives. The statement reveals seven goals for where PLE might be in 10 years’ time.

Department of Health and Social Care

Air Pollution

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects Public Health England to publish its report on the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce air pollution.

Steve Brine: Public Health England plans to publish its report on the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce air pollution by the beginning of December 2018.

Children: Death

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 179175 on Children: Death, how many child death reviews which identified trauma or external factors as the cause of death related to gang violence.

Caroline Dinenage: Data from child death reviews in the format requested is not held centrally.

Medical Treatments

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many carotid, iliac and renal stent implantations have been undertaken in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Stephen Barclay: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 November 2018.The correct answer should have been:

A table showing a count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) with a primary or secondary procedure of carotid, iliac and renal stent implantations in each National Health Service trust in each financial year between 2013-14 and 2017-18 is attached. This is a count of procedures, not patients as the same patient may have had more than FCE within the same time-period.



Stent implantations by NHS trust 2013-18
(Excel SpreadSheet, 33.75 KB)

Stephen Barclay: A table showing a count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) with a primary or secondary procedure of carotid, iliac and renal stent implantations in each National Health Service trust in each financial year between 2013-14 and 2017-18 is attached. This is a count of procedures, not patients as the same patient may have had more than FCE within the same time-period.



Stent implantations by NHS trust 2013-18
(Excel SpreadSheet, 33.75 KB)

Medical Treatments

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deep brain, vagal, sacral, spinal cord and occipital nerve stimulator implantations have been undertaken in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The information is not available in the format requested.



PQ183364 attached document
(Excel SpreadSheet, 43.95 KB)

Heart Diseases: Defibrillators

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ICD (Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator) ICD with CRT (Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy) capability implantations have been undertaken in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The attached table shows a count of finished consultant episodes (FCE), with a primary or secondary procedure of Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator with Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy capability implantations in each trust for the years 2013-14 to 2017-18. A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. In order to protect patient confidentiality, '*' appears in the table for all sub-national breakdowns, where it is possible to calculate a value between one and seven from the data presented. All other sub-national data has been rounded to the nearest five.



PQ183365 attached document
(Word Document, 29.64 KB)

Heart Diseases: Medical Treatments

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many percutaneous valve repair and replacement device implantations have been carried out in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The information is not available in the format requested.

Medical Treatments

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many peripheral vascular stent implantations have been carried out in each NHS trust in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The attached table shows a count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) with a main or secondary procedure for peripheral vascular stent implantations, by National Health Service trust, 2013-14 to 2017-18. A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. In order to protect patient confidentiality, '*' appears in the table for all sub-national breakdowns, where it is possible to calculate a value between one and seven from the data presented. All other sub-national data has been rounded to the nearest five.



PQ183367
(Word Document, 30.06 KB)

Blood: Contamination

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the presence of pathogens in contaminated blood products.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for the collection of donated blood and the production of blood products for the National Health Service in England. Modern safety standards are rigorous, and our blood supply is now one of the safest in the world. A donation which falls short of our standards during testing will be discarded. The most recent safe supplies annual report can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-supplies-annual-review/safe-supplies-a-year-of-change

Blood: Contamination

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the average life expectancy of all sub-groups who were affected by contaminated blood products.

Jackie Doyle-Price: An assessment of average life expectancy for people who received infected blood products has not been carried out.

Blood: Contamination

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of contaminated blood products on the mental health of people who received those products.

Jackie Doyle-Price: An assessment of the potential mental health impact on people who have received infected blood products has not been carried out. However, in addition to non-discretionary payments to beneficiaries, the England Infected Blood Support Scheme also offers additional, time-limited discretionary support, which can include payments for counselling.

Department of Health and Social Care: Capita

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which contracts awarded by his Department are operated by Capita.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department does not currently hold any contracts with Capita.

Radiotherapy

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 7 of the report, Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View, published by NHS England in March 2017, how many state of the art new and upgraded linear accelerators are available to NHS patients in England; and how many have been introduced since the publication of that report.

Steve Brine: In October 2016, NHS England announced a £130 million fund to modernise radiotherapy across England. This is ensuring that older linear accelerators (LINACs - radiotherapy machines) being used by hospitals across the country are being upgraded or replaced, giving cancer patients access to the latest leading-edge technology regardless of where they live. Since October 2016, NHS England has approved funding to replace or upgrade 78 machines across England, with 48 of those since publication of Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View (NSFYFV). We will meet the commitment in NSFYFV shortly, completing the modernisation programme.

NHS: Finance

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual NHS provider deficits were for each NHS provider organisation in each financial year since 2009-10.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the estimated provider sector deficit will be for each NHS provider for the financial year 2018-19.

Stephen Barclay: The attached table sets out the annual surplus in each National Health Service provider organisation since 2010-11 and the forecast surplus in each NHS provider organisation for 2018-19. The forecast for 2018-19 is based on the reported income and expenditure for each NHS provider at Quarter 1, 2018-19, as published in the Quarterly Performance of the NHS Provider Sector report from NHS Improvement.



PQ183325,183328
(Word Document, 65.27 KB)

NHS: Debts

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual NHS provider debts were for each NHS provider organisation in each financial year since 2009-10.

Stephen Barclay: The Department and entities within its accounting boundary report on the basis of European Union Adopted International Financial Reporting Standards as interpreted and adapted for the public sector by HM Treasury’s Financial Reporting Manual. Debt is not a specific classification of liability that is reported by entities, including National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts. To provide a total liability amount for each provider organisation, either current and payable within 12 months or non-current and due to be settled beyond 12 months from the end of the financial year, would therefore include items which the Department would not expect to be viewed as debt. For this reason, the Department has interpreted the term debt to refer to outstanding balances on loans both with the Department and with Other Entities. The attached tables identify the level of loans outstanding for each financial year from 2010-11 for which complete information is available, on a current and non-current basis. Loans held with the Department are eliminated on consolidation to arrive at the Group’s Consolidated Statement of Financial Position. As part of presenting a consolidated set of accounts, all intra group activity (including income, expenditure, assets and liabilities generated by intra group trading) is eliminated, so as to not overstate the Group position. For individual NHS providers these loans with the Department represent a debt but this is not the case with the Group position presented in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts as balances held and transactions related to the loans held are eliminated.



PQ183326 attached table
(Word Document, 277.34 KB)

Mental Health Services

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average travel distance was for (a) adults and (b) children needing inpatient mental health services in England at (i) March 2017 and (ii) the most recent date for which data is available.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to ensuring that patients with mental health conditions can receive treatment as close as possible to where they live. The following table shows the average distance from home (in kilometres), for mental health inpatients for children and adults in England at the end of March 2017 and July 2018 (the most recent period for which data is available). This data comes from the Mental Health Services Dataset. Average distance from home in kilometres for people in mental health wards, March 2017 and July 2018.  March 2017July 2018Children (aged 0-18)6058Adults (Aged 19 and over)2527 Notes:Data has been excluded where either the distance was unknown or the recorded distance was 0. This can happen where a patient has been in hospital for a long period of time and the home postcode of the patient is no longer known.Data is for patients who have an open ward stay at the end of period.

NHS Property Services: Finance

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual balances were recorded by NHS property services in each year since 2013-14.

Stephen Barclay: End-of-year financial information for 2016/17 is available in NHS Property Services’ annual report and accounts, which can be found on their website at the following link: https://www.property.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NHSPS-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2016-17.pdf All previous financial years’ accounts from 2013/14 are available on the Companies House website at the following link: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07888110/filing-history

Maternity Services: Mental Illness

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many specialist mental health Mother and Baby Units were available to patients in England at (a) March 2018 and (b) October 2018.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many specialist mental health beds are available to patients in England at (a) March 2018 and (b) October 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The following table shows the number of specialist Mother and Baby Units (MBUs) and consultant led mental health beds in April and October 2018.  April 2018October 2018Mother and Baby Units (MBU)15311Consultant led mental health beds218,08218,394 Notes:1. This number includes the MBU at Chorley which is due to open at the end of October 2018.2. Figures for consultant led mental health beds are from Q4 2017/18 and Q2 2018/19 from NHS Digital KH03 collection.

HIV Infection: Young People

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many peer support services for young people with HIV in England were operational in each year between 2010 and 2018.

Steve Brine: Information on the number of peer support services for young people with HIV in England which were operational in each year between 2010 and 2018 is not collected centrally.

HIV Infection: Young People

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to improve the transition between child and adult services for people living with HIV in England.

Steve Brine: In line with NHS England’s Standard Contract for specialised HIV Services (children), an individual transitional care plan for each young person should be developed to facilitate a smooth and timely transition to adult care. The plan should be developed in consultation with the young person. More information can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/b06-spec-hiv-child.pdf

HIV Infection

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the health needs of people living with HIV are addressed in the long-term plan for the NHS.

Steve Brine: The Prime Minister announced in June her intention to work with the National Health Service to develop a 10-year plan for the future of the health service, underpinned by a five-year funding offer which will see the NHS budget grow by over £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023-24. NHS leaders are currently writing their plan, led by clinicians, professionals and supported by local health and care systems across the country. The plan will set a vision for the health service and ensure every penny is well spent.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish data on the average period of time between a diagnosis of HIV and initiation on antiretroviral therapy in the most recent year for which data is available.

Steve Brine: Public Health England publishes data on the time interval between diagnosis of HIV and initiation of treatment. Latest available data show that in 2016 in the United Kingdom, 76% (3,214/4,225) of people newly diagnosed with HIV started treatment within 90 days of diagnosis.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the level of adherence to NHS England’s Clinical Commissioning Policy on immediate antiretroviral therapy for treatment of HIV-1 in adults and adolescents since its publication in March 2018.

Steve Brine: Data is not available to inform an assessment of the level of adherence to NHS England’s Clinical Commissioning Policy on immediate antiretroviral therapy for treatment of HIV-1 in adults and adolescents. This data will be published in 2019.

Health Education

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve health literacy for (a) the working-age population and (b) healthcare professionals.

Steve Brine: Public Health England, Health Education England, NHS England and Community Health and Learning Foundation, are working together to develop, test and implement a range of strategic and practical interventions towards improving health literacy. This includes the Health Literacy toolkit which provides resources to raise awareness of health literacy and upskill the health, care and wider public health workforce. The toolkit sets out the case for investment in health literacy interventions; describes practical tools and techniques that practitioners in a variety of settings can implement to enhance approaches and practice for those with low levels of health literacy and outlines case studies that demonstrate the impact on both practitioners and patients. The toolkit is available to view at the following link: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/health-literacy

Pharmacy

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Stay Well Pharmacy campaign on (a) promoting the expertise of pharmacists and (b) reducing preventable emergency admissions to hospital.

Steve Brine: The Stay Well Pharmacy campaign is part of a wider behaviour change programme to encourage the public to use their community pharmacy for advice and treatment for minor illness and health advice. This phase targeted parents and carers of young children under the age of five. The evaluation of the campaign against its objectives showed: - Awareness: Campaign objective: Achieve 30% unprompted awareness of Stay Well Pharmacy campaign amongst parents of young children under the age of five years by March 2018. The post campaign evaluation found 31% unprompted awareness of pharmacies as an option for minor health concerns by parents of young children under the age of five years.- Understanding: Campaign objective: Achieve 30% of parents of young children under the age of five years agreeing they would use pharmacist services when they have symptoms of the minor illnesses mentioned by March 2018. The post campaign evaluation found 49% achievement of this campaign objective.- Behavioural Intentions: Campaign objective: Achieve 35% of parents of young children under the age of five years claiming they would seek advice from community pharmacists for minor illnesses that can be effectively managed in pharmacy by March 2018. The post campaign evaluation found 26% achievement of this campaign objective. The previous Stay Well This Winter campaign aimed at encouraging the 65+ and working age people with long term health conditions to seek advice from the local community pharmacy at the first signs of a winter illness (including coughs and colds) to get advice on managing the condition. This resulted in an additional 1.6 million visits to pharmacy. Modelling the impact of the campaign suggests it resulted in: - 13,856 fewer people attending, with 6,016 fewer being admitted, to accident and emergency (A&E) during the three months the campaign aired: and- 5,747 fewer people being admitted to A&E during the three months after the campaign aired.

Contraceptives

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) GPs, (b) practice nurses, (c) Community Sexual and Reproductive Health consultants and (d) Community Sexual and Reproductive Health nurses have been trained to fit (i) contraceptive implants and (ii) intra-uterine devices and systems in each year since 2013.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Green Paper on Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision, what steps he is taking to implement the national strategic partnership on mental health for 16 to 25-year-olds.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Following an initial meeting with a cross section of stakeholders in May, the Cabinet Office has been working with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and a range of other organisations to consider next steps in this area. We are pleased to support the launch of a new University Mental Health Charter in June 2018, aiming to drive up standards in promoting student and staff mental health and wellbeing. Universities will be awarded a new recognition for meeting improved standards.

Mental Health Services

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of early intervention by mental health services on people with mental health issues.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health is at the heart of Government plans to transform mental health services and recognises early intervention as key to improving service user experiences and preventing the requirement for in-patient stays. Page 15 of the Five Year Forward View notes that: “Early intervention and quick access to good quality care is vital – especially for children and young people. Waiting times should be substantially reduced, significant inequalities in access should be addressed and support should be offered while people are waiting for care.”Following publication of the Five Year Forward View, and in recognition of the value of early intervention, the Government agreed the following waiting times and access targets with NHS England.- For accessing Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services 75% of referrals should be seen within six weeks and 95% should be seen within 18 weeks;- For eating disorder services 95% of referrals should be seen within four weeks for routine cases and 95% of urgent referrals should be seen within one week; and- For the Early Intervention in Psychosis programme 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis should start a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended package of care within two weeks of referral, rising to 60% by 2021.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has to facilitate commercial discussions between manufacturers and NHS England at an early stage in its evaluations of highly specialised technologies.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) it has recently set up a commercial function that specifically focuses on engaging in discussions around commercial arrangements - The Commercial and Managed Access Programme. Through this function, NICE will provide companies with opportunities to engage in commercial and managed access conversations with both NICE and NHS England.

Muscular Dystrophy: Drugs

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the introduction of a cost-effectiveness threshold in the NICE highly specialised technologies appraisal process, what steps he is taking to ensure equity of access to treatment for different subgroups of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) evaluates all medicines referred to its highly specialised technologies (HST) programme, including medicines for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, consistently in accordance with its published methods and processes. In 2017, following public consultation, NICE introduced an assessment of cost-effectiveness into its HST methodology that provides a consistent and transparent mechanism for evaluating technologies while recognising the need for greater flexibility in the evaluation of very high cost drugs for the treatment of very rare diseases.

Diabetes: Enfield Southgate

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in Enfield, Southgate  constituency (a) are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and (b) have accessed the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme; and what plans his Department has to increase the level of access to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme in that constituency.

Steve Brine: Public Health England has developed a prevalence model for Non-Diabetic Hyperglycaemia. This estimates that in 2015 there were 29,269 individuals living in NHS Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) at risk of type 2 diabetes. NHS England reports performance data relating to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) by CCG. Up to September 2018, 691 residents in NHS Enfield CCG had undertaken an initial assessment on the programme.The NHS Five Year Forward View set out NHS England's commitment to support up to 100,000 people per annum on the NHS DPP by 2020 and programme capacity will be made available across England according to local population need and service demand.

Diabetes

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with Type 2 Diabetes in England have had access to bariatric surgery; and whether his Department has plans to increase the level access to bariatric surgery by people with Type 2 diabetes.

Steve Brine: In 2017/18 there were 2,546 counts of finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and a main or secondary procedure for bariatric surgery. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning complex obesity services for adults, which include all bariatric surgical procedures and the associated care. NHS England would expect CCGs to take in to account guidelines issued in 2014 by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the identification, assessment and management of obesity that makes recommendations on the use of bariatric surgery.

Diabetes

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to roll out proven interventions to increase the rates of diabetes remission.

Steve Brine: NHS England is exploring the piloting and implementation of Very Low Calorie Diets (VCLD) a clinically supervised diet plan that involves eating about 800 calories a day or fewer. Some people with type 2 diabetes can achieve remission, at least for a period, through adoption of a VLCD. Achieving remission of type 2 diabetes will allow the patient to stop taking anti-diabetic drugs and these associated costs and prevent the development of further complications.

Diabetes: Health Education

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with (a) Type 1 and (b) Type 2 diabetes in (i) Enfield, Southgate constituency and (ii) England attended a structured education course in 2016-2017; and what funding his Department plans to allocate to the extension of the Diabetes Programme to new areas.

Steve Brine: The following table shows the number of people with diabetes in Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and England, who attended a diabetes structural education course between 1 January 2016 and 31 March 2017, by diabetes type. LevelType 1Type 2 and otherEngland4,64541,560NHS Enfield CCG515  Note:In order to protect patient confidentiality, all other sub-national data has been rounded to the nearest five.The National Diabetes Association (NDA) does not hold data at a constituency level. NHS Digital have provided the number of people with diabetes who attended a structural education course at a CCG level during the NDA’s audit period 2016-17.On 18 June the Prime Minister set out a funding settlement for the National Health Service in England for the next five years. The NHS has been asked to set out a long term plan for the future of the NHS, setting out ambitions for improvement over the next decade, and plans to meet them over the five years of the funding settlement. Further investment in diabetes prevention and treatment will be determined in the context of the long term plan, which is due to be published later this year.

Diabetes: Enfield Southgate

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in Enfield, Southgate constituency have achieved the three NICE-recommended treatment targets compared with the national average; how many Diabetes Specialist Nurses there are in that constituency compared with the national average; and if he will continue his Department's investment in treatment targets as part of the Diabetes Programme as part of the NHS 10 year long-term plan in order to allow new areas to bid.

Steve Brine: The National Diabetes Audit does not hold the data requested at constituency level. NHS Digital were able to provide the following data that details the percentage achievement of the three National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended treatment targets in England and within NHS Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Percentage of people with diabetes in NHS Enfield CCG achieving all three treatment targets by diabetes type, 2016-17  Type 1Type 2 and otherLevelPercentagePercentageEngland19.041.1NHS Enfield CCG20.539.5 Information regarding the number of Diabetes Specialist Nurses is not centrally held. At present, there have been no decisions made on how the additional funding recently announced by the Government will be distributed across the National Health Service, including diabetes services. NHS England is currently undertaking further work to consider how the additional funding can best be spent for the benefit of patients, with decisions to be taken in due course.

Carers: Nottinghamshire

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on (a) respite care and (b) other practical support available to carers from local authorities in Nottinghamshire.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally. Through the Government’s Better Care Fund, local areas set out plans which indicate the level of resource that will be dedicated to carer-specific support, including respite and carers’ breaks. The exact breakdown on spend for carers’ breaks is not collected centrally. Information covering other practical support available to carers from local authority’s is not held centrally, either. However, the Care Act 2014 introduced important new rights for carers, for the first time putting them on the same footing as the people for whom they care. Carers have legal rights to an assessment of, and support for, their needs where eligible. Local authorities also have a wider duty to offer information and advice to all carers, including signposting the carer to support available locally.

Health Services: Autism

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take to (a) tackle health inequality faced by autistic people and (b) ensure NHS England adopts NICE’s 2017 recommendation to adopt local autism registers; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: Following an announcement in June 2018, the Prime Minister has asked the National Health Service to develop a long-term plan for the service, setting out how the NHS will develop over the coming years supported by the significant additional funding. Learning disabilities and autism are one of four clinical priority areas so this provides an opportunity to consider how the NHS can work to address the inequalities experienced by people with autism. NHS England is currently involved in discussions with autistic people and partner organisations to explore the potential of general practitioners registers.

Audiology: Paediatrics

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2018 to Question 180843 on a national tariff for paediatric audiology services, if he will provide a web link to the national tariffs referred to in that answer.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested can be found in the following link in Annex A under ‘Prices for admitted patient care and outpatient procedures for 2018/19 (APC & OPROC 18.19)’ in row 254 and 255. https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/national-tariff-1719/

National Emergency Pressures Panel

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times the national emergency pressures panel has met during the 2018-19 financial year.

Stephen Barclay: The National Escalation Pressures Panel (NEPP) has not yet formally met in the 2018-19 financial year. NHS England publishes meeting notes online when NEPP meets. These can be located on their website at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/national-emergency-pressures-panel-nepp/

Diabetes

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the quality of care provision for people with diabetes in (a) NHS Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group and (b) England.

Steve Brine: There are two Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework (CCG IAF) indicators on which CCGs are given a Red, Amber or Green rating. Ratings are combined to give an overall diabetes rating for individual CCGs. The indicators are as follows:- Diabetes patients that have achieved all the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended treatment targets: three (HbA1c, cholesterol and blood pressure) for adults and one (HbA1c) for children; and- People with diabetes diagnosed less than a year ago who attend a structured education course. The overall diabetes rating for Coventry and Rugby CCG in the most recent 2016/17 assessment was ‘Requires Improvement’, following a Green rating for patients achieving all the NICE recommended treatment targets and a Red rating for attendances at structured education courses. CCGs across England received the following overall ratings in relation to diabetes:- Outstanding - 40 CCGs;- Good - 46 CCGs;- Requires Improvement - 102 CCGs; and- Inadequate - 19 CCGs.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on the list of medical conditions that entitle people to medical exemption certificates; and whether he plans to include additional medical conditions on that list.

Steve Brine: The Department has no current plans to review or amend the list of medical conditions that provide exemption from prescription charges because arrangements exist to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Accordingly, no recent discussions about this matter have taken place at Ministerial level with NHS England.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether GP’s have authority to request cervical cancer smear tests when patients under 25 show symptoms of cervical cancer.

Steve Brine: As part of the delivery of essential medical services under the General Medical Services Contract Regulations, general practitioner practices must offer consultation and, where appropriate, physical examination for the purposes of identifying the need, if any, for treatment or further investigation. Practices should carry out treatment or further investigation as is necessary and appropriate, including the referral of a patient to other services or other health care professionals. Patients aged over 25 are, of course, eligible for the cervical screening programme.

Influenza: Vaccination

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices are using the flu vaccine that was supplied in winter 2017-18; and what guidance his Department has issued to GP practices on the use of that vaccine.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date CAR-T therapy for adult cancer patients will be made available.

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when CAR-T therapy for adult cancer patients will be made available for patients in Torbay and Plymouth hospitals.

Steve Brine: NHS England is working with the manufacturers and National Health Service providers to prepare the NHS to begin delivering Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR-T) therapy - the first in a wave of treatments in a new era of personalised medicine and part of the NHS’s long-term plan to upgrade cancer service. The first treatment that will be available to patient is tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) as an option for treating children and young people up to 25 years old with B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that is refractory, in relapsed post-transplant or in second or later relapse. NHS England anticipates that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will recommend this treatment for entry into the Cancer Drugs Fund in mid-November. If so, funding will be made immediately available, following a successful commercial deal with the manufacturer Novartis. We anticipate the first patients will begin their treatment in late November 2018. The phased implementation required by the manufacturer and the NHS means that full capacity to treat eligible patients will take some months to achieve and a National CAR-T Clinical Panel will convene in mid-November to assure equity of access and prioritise eligible patients.

Diabetes: Orthopaedics

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many amputations were carried out as a result of Type 2 diabetes in each clinical commissioning group area in each of the last four years.

Steve Brine: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Diabetes

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with type two diabetes by (a) age and (b) gender in each clinical commissioning group area in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: Tables showing the number of people who were diagnosed with type 2 or other diabetes in each of the five calendar years 2012 to 2016 in each clinical commissioning group, by ten-year age band, and the number of people who were diagnosed with type 2 or other diabetes in each of the five calendar years 2012 to 2016 in each clinical commissioning group, by gender are attached. Disclosure control has been applied to all figures, as per the National Diabetes Audit publication. All numbers are rounded to the nearest five, unless the number is one to seven, in which case it is rounded to ‘five’.



PQ184908 attached data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 119.39 KB)

In Vitro Fertilisation

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups meet guidelines that IVF should be offered to women until age 42; what estimate he has made of the number of Clinical Commissioning Groups that do not meet these guidelines; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) should have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on the assessment and treatment of people with fertility problems when commissioning services for which they are responsible. This includes the recommendation in the guideline that three cycles of in-vitro fertilisation be offered to qualifying couples where the woman is under the age of 40 and one cycle where the woman is between the ages of 40 and 42. The NICE guideline is evidence based best practice for clinicians but is not mandatory. The availability of National Health Service funded fertility treatment is matter for local determination. Decisions on the level of service provision are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs and priorities. Information about the commissioning of fertility services is not collected centrally but an annual survey is undertaken by Fertility Fairness. This can be found at the following link: http://www.fertilityfairness.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/England-FertilityFairness_FOI_2018.pdf

Asthma: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children attended  Barnsley Hospital A&E as a result of asthma in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of A&E admissions for asthma.

Steve Brine: The data is not available in the format requested.

Asthma

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children were admitted to hospital as a result of asthma in (a) Yorkshire and the Humber and (b) England in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The information requested is shown in the following tables. A count of finished admission episodes for children and adults in the government office region of Yorkshire and the Humber with a primary diagnosis of asthma.YearAge 0-17 yearsAge 18-120 years2013/142,4474,1472014/152,6164,9332015/162,1354,9262016/172,2125,1912017/182,1734,971 A count of finished admission episodes for children and adults in England with a primary diagnosis of asthma.YearAge 0-17 yearsAge 18-120 years2013/1425,84139,9162014/1528,71046,9002015/1627,35546,8452016/1727,60949,5832017/1826,08852,219 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), NHS Digital Notes:A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.The government office region of residence of the patient is derived from the patient's postcode in the field home address.The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital.Asthma clinical codes used: J45 and J46HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in National Health Service practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.It should be noted that HES include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2015-16 includes activity ending between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016.

NHS Trusts: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October to Question 178506 on NHS Trusts: Standards, whether (a) the NHS provider deficit, (b) the size of individual trust deficits, and (c) the number of trusts reporting a deficit, have improved since 2010-11, and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: Due to a number of systemic changes, including those made as a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, trust deficit figures within the National Health Service are not comparable with those in 2010. In seven of the last eight years the Department has lived within its total revenue budget – which covers the entire health and social care system. This is the key metric of financial performance for the NHS i.e. whether in aggregate the NHS over, or under-spent. Fewer trusts are in deficit and the size of those deficits are down compared to 2015-16. But problems in a minority of trusts do still exist, and tackling that challenge is key to the success of the NHS’s plan.

NHS Trusts: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October to Question 178506 on NHS Trusts: Standards, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of below inflation increases to the NHS tariff on NHS provider deficits since 2010-11, and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Improvement publish a tariff uplift as part of its role as regulator; to use as the starting basis for which prices and contracts should be negotiated in the National Health Service. The construct includes a thorough assessment of pressures e.g. pay, drugs etc. and the scale of potential off-setting efficiencies. This process ensures a fair but challenging delivery requirement for the NHS. The calculation enabled sufficient funding for the majority of organisations to end 2017-18 in surplus. As part of the Long Term Plan, the tariff mechanism is being reviewed to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

Health: Children and Young People

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the National Study of Health and Wellbeing: Children and Young People.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We expect this to be published by NHS Digital on 22 November 2018, as part of the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017 publication.

Health: Children

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the promotion of research into child heath by (a) UK Research and Innovation and (b) UK higher educational institutions.

Caroline Dinenage: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care meets regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss a wide range of important issues. The Department, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) invests in a wide range of research on children and families, including a new Children and Families Policy Research Unit which will start in January 2019. Additionally, the NIHR’s Global Health Research Team has met twice this year with United Kingdom funders of research for International Development convened by the UK Collaborative on Development Research to discuss existing and future investment in reproductive, maternal and neonatal health research. Participants include the Department for International Development, Welcome Trust and UK Research and Innovation.

Infant Foods

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to reinstate the Infant Feeding Survey.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are no current plans to reinstate the Infant Feeding Survey.

Food Poisoning

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of (a) food poisoning and (b) lamb-related food poisoning there has been in the UK in each year since 2010.

Steve Brine: Clinicians are required to formally notify cases of suspected food poisoning to Public Health England (PHE) under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010. The total number of formally notified cases of food poisoning in England and Wales in each year between 2010 and 2018 are available in the following table. PHE does not collect data on specific causes of food poisoning, including consumption of lamb. Number of statutory food poisoning notifications received in England and Wales, 2010-2018.YearNumber of notifications received201057,041201124,384201220,680201315,350201417,402201515,716201613,0642017**11,4222018*9,414Total184,473 Notes: *Up to week 43 in 2018 **Totals for 2017 are provisional Source: For annual totals between 2010 and 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notifiable-diseases-historic-annual-totals Source: For 2018 data: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notifiable-diseases-last-52-weeks

Meat: Inspections

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many inspections the Food Standards Agency has undertaken of businesses involved in the production of meat in each year since 2010; and how many of those inspections reported the presence of salmonella.

Steve Brine: All animals and poultry slaughtered in approved premises are subjected to Food Standard Agency (FSA) inspection. From 2013 the FSA started a regime of routine unannounced inspections in those approved meat cutting and processing premises in England and Wales where there is no permanent FSA presence as part of the meat establishments audit programme. The following table shows the unannounced inspections across England and Wales from 2013 when FSA started recording the data. YearEnglandWalesTotal2013151315420141,051581,109201560851659201691083993201791649965201874850798 The FSA does not routinely test for the presence of salmonella in slaughtered animals as it is the Food Business Operator’s (FBO) responsibility to test, record, and take any necessary action on Salmonella test results. The FSA is responsible for ensuring the FBO is discharging this responsibility. The reported inspections are held within FBO records themselves, rather than the FSA. The FSA publishes Salmonella testing results from pigs as part of a specific FBO testing programme for FBO producing more than 37,500 pigs per year. The following link illustrates the published results that are used for the Multi-Annual National Control Plan (MANCP report): https://data.food.gov.uk/catalog/datasets/5137a587-4b88-4981-9dfe-e2623151e2a9

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October to Question 180687 on Drugs: Rehabilitation, what estimate he has made of the real terms change in funding for substance misuse services in (a) each local authority in England and (b) in total in each year since 2012.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2018 to Question 180688 on Alcoholic Drinks: Rehabilitation, what estimate he has made of the real terms change in funding for alcohol treatment services in (a) each local authority in England and (b) total in each year since 2012.

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2018 to Question 180689,on  Drugs: Rehabilitation, what estimate he has made of the real terms change in funding for drug treatment services in (a) each local authority in England and (b) total in each year since 2012.

Steve Brine: Information on annual actual spend by local authorities on these services is available at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing However, this data is not broken down in the format requested. Decisions on the commissioning of drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services are the responsibility of local authorities (LAs), based on an assessment of local need. The public health grant conditions make it clear that LAs must have regard for the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, their drug and alcohol misuse treatment services. The Government continues to monitor local authority spending on an annual basis.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Statutory Instruments

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Hansard Society article Westminster Lens: Brexit Statutory Instruments Dashboard, published on 22 October 2018,  what progress the Government has made on the outstanding statutory instruments to prepare the statute book for the UK leaving the EU.

Suella Braverman: The Government is making progress and remains confident of ensuring a functioning statute book as we leave the EU. All statutory instruments are being published on legislation.gov.uk, and can also be found on Parliament’s tracker at https://beta.parliament.uk/find-a-statutory-instrument. The Government has committed that statutory instruments relating to EU exit will be clearly titled.

Department for Education

Academies: Private Finance Initiative

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a list of the names and addresses of all state-maintained academies which have been constructed via a Private Finance Initiative or PF2 programme.

Nick Gibb: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 04 September 2018.The correct answer should have been:

There are 299 academies that were constructed under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or Private Finance 2 (PF2), as set out in the attached list. The schools' addresses can be downloaded from the ‘Get information about schools’ website at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads. The Department has recently signed five PF2 contracts as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme. Prior to these PF2 contracts, 169 contracts (including 67 Building Schools for the Future PFI contracts) were signed by local authorities under the PFI. Local authorities hold this information.The Department does not centrally hold a list of all state maintained academies, which have been constructed via a Private Finance programme. Whilst the Department holds a list of local authority Private Finance Initiative contracts (PFI), which is published by HM Treasury, it does not maintain a list of the individual schools within the contracts. Local authorities will hold this information.The Department holds details of Private Finance 2 (PF2) contracts and the schools within those contracts. There are 46 schools constructed under the PF2 programme. A list of the schools is attached and details of open academies are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development.


167263_167267_PFI_&_PF2_constructed_academies
(Excel SpreadSheet, 59 KB)




167263_167267_List_of_PF2_Schools
(Excel SpreadSheet, 58.5 KB)

Nick Gibb: There are 299 academies that were constructed under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or Private Finance 2 (PF2), as set out in the attached list. The schools' addresses can be downloaded from the ‘Get information about schools’ website at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads. The Department has recently signed five PF2 contracts as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme. Prior to these PF2 contracts, 169 contracts (including 67 Building Schools for the Future PFI contracts) were signed by local authorities under the PFI. Local authorities hold this information.The Department does not centrally hold a list of all state maintained academies, which have been constructed via a Private Finance programme. Whilst the Department holds a list of local authority Private Finance Initiative contracts (PFI), which is published by HM Treasury, it does not maintain a list of the individual schools within the contracts. Local authorities will hold this information.The Department holds details of Private Finance 2 (PF2) contracts and the schools within those contracts. There are 46 schools constructed under the PF2 programme. A list of the schools is attached and details of open academies are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development.


167263_167267_PFI_&_PF2_constructed_academies
(Excel SpreadSheet, 59 KB)




167263_167267_List_of_PF2_Schools
(Excel SpreadSheet, 58.5 KB)

Building Schools for the Future Programme

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the names and locations are of all schools constructed under the Building Schools for the Future programme and funded by means of a PFI or PF2 programme.

Nick Gibb: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 04 September 2018.The correct answer should have been:

There are 299 academies that were constructed under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or Private Finance 2 (PF2), as set out in the attached list. The schools' addresses can be downloaded from the ‘Get information about schools’ website at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads. The Department has recently signed five PF2 contracts as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme. Prior to these PF2 contracts, 169 contracts (including 67 Building Schools for the Future PFI contracts) were signed by local authorities under the PFI. Local authorities hold this information.The Department does not centrally hold a list of all state maintained academies, which have been constructed via a Private Finance programme. Whilst the Department holds a list of local authority Private Finance Initiative contracts (PFI), which is published by HM Treasury, it does not maintain a list of the individual schools within the contracts. Local authorities will hold this information.The Department holds details of Private Finance 2 (PF2) contracts and the schools within those contracts. There are 46 schools constructed under the PF2 programme. A list of the schools is attached and details of open academies are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development. 


167263_167267_PFI_&_PF2_constructed_academies
(Excel SpreadSheet, 59 KB)




167263_167267_List_of_PF2_Schools
(Excel SpreadSheet, 58.5 KB)

Nick Gibb: There are 299 academies that were constructed under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or Private Finance 2 (PF2), as set out in the attached list. The schools' addresses can be downloaded from the ‘Get information about schools’ website at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Downloads. The Department has recently signed five PF2 contracts as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme. Prior to these PF2 contracts, 169 contracts (including 67 Building Schools for the Future PFI contracts) were signed by local authorities under the PFI. Local authorities hold this information.The Department does not centrally hold a list of all state maintained academies, which have been constructed via a Private Finance programme. Whilst the Department holds a list of local authority Private Finance Initiative contracts (PFI), which is published by HM Treasury, it does not maintain a list of the individual schools within the contracts. Local authorities will hold this information.The Department holds details of Private Finance 2 (PF2) contracts and the schools within those contracts. There are 46 schools constructed under the PF2 programme. A list of the schools is attached and details of open academies are available on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development. 


167263_167267_PFI_&_PF2_constructed_academies
(Excel SpreadSheet, 59 KB)




167263_167267_List_of_PF2_Schools
(Excel SpreadSheet, 58.5 KB)

Academies: Nottingham

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 176282 on Academies: Nottingham, for what reason (a) Park Vale Academy, (b) Bluecoat Academy (Aspley Lane), (c) Glenbrook Academy and (d) Springfield Academy were not included in the list provided in his Answer of 4 September 2018 to Question 167263 on Academies: Private Finance Initiative.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 22 October 2018



The Department has reviewed the list of academies that was supplied in response to Questions 167263 and 167267 and it was discovered that Park Vale Academy was omitted in error. Bluecoat Academy (Aspley Lane), Glenbrook Academy and Springfield Academy are not part of a Private Finance Initiative or Private Finance 2 contract.

Teachers: Pay

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding the Government plans to allocate to non-academised sixth form colleges to assist with the increase of teachers' remuneration.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the total cost to sixth form colleges of the removal of the teachers pay cap.

Anne Milton: Holding answer received on 24 October 2018



Last month, the department announced the pay award for teachers in maintained schools through the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. Sixth form colleges’ pay and terms and conditions are agreed separately through the National Joint Council for Staff in Sixth Form Colleges. The government has never taken steps to cap the pay of teachers in sixth form colleges, as these are private and independent institutions. Further education colleges are independent institutions and the government has no current plans to allocate funding specifically to assist with the increase of teachers’ remuneration in non-academised sixth form colleges. However we are considering the overall needs of these institutions as part of our work on the efficiency and resilience of the further education sector. We will continue to look carefully at their funding requirements in preparation for the next Spending Review.

Schools: Air Pollution

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England are in areas with an annual mean nitrogen dioxide level greater than 40 μg/m3.

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England are in areas with an annual mean PM2.5 level greater than 10 μg/m3.

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England are in areas with an annual mean PM10 level greater than 20 μg/m3.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.

Pupils: Refugees

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many child refugees are being schooled in the UK.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.Information on refugee status is not collected within the school census. All children in the UK aged between 5-15 are required to be in education, including refugee children.

English Baccalaureate: IGCSE

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of GCSE entries in EBACC subjects in (a) state and (b) independent schools were IGCSEs in 2018.

Nick Gibb: For pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018, the number of international GCSE entries in EBacc subjects and their proportion of GCSE and equivalent entries in EBacc subjects in 2017/18 is provided below:Institution typeNumber of international As a proportion of GCSE  GCSE entries in EBacc subjectsand equivalents in EBacc subjectsState-funded2,0150.1%Independent23,71213.6%Other (e.g. PRUs and AP)3151.7%All schools26,0420.8% As our reformed GCSEs have been introduced, international GCSEs in equivalent subjects have been removed from the school and college performance tables. The majority of international GCSEs therefore do not count towards the EBacc in 2018. For pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018, the number of entries in approved international GCSEs (those which count in the performance tables) in EBacc subjects, and their proportion of all GCSE and equivalent entries in 2017/18 in these subjects which are counted in performance tables, is provided below:Institution typeNumber of international As a proportion of GCSE  GCSE entries in EBacc subjectsand equivalents in EBacc subjectsState-funded40.0%Independent1270.1%All schools1310.0%

Department for Education: Capita

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which contracts awarded by his Department are operated by Capita.

Nick Gibb: The Department’s records confirm Capita currently has seven contracts as listed in Annex A attached.Since January 2011, details of central Government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive.Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.



183382_Annex_A_Contracts_operated_by_Capita
(PDF Document, 14.69 KB)

Higher Education: Drama

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons it is not possible to apply through UCAS to all drama schools that award degrees.

Mr Sam Gyimah: UCAS handles applications to higher education on behalf of providers, independent of government. Universities, colleges and other organisations that award degrees may sign up for their services, but whether they do so, or not, is their decision.

Home Education

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for the next steps of his Department's consultation on home education.

Anne Milton: The responses received to the consultation are still being considered. When this process has been completed, the department will publish the finalised version of guidance on current arrangements for home education. We will also publish a formal government response document setting out the proposed next steps in relation to matters covered by the call for evidence.

Children: Day Care

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people who were eligible for 30 hours of free childcare in one term did not apply for an eligibility code for the next term.

Nadhim Zahawi: The specific data requested is not available. To access 30 hours free childcare for their child a parent must apply via the Childcare Service and receive an eligibility code. Once they have received this code they are required to reconfirm their circumstances every three months but they do not need to apply for a new code each term.

Pre-school Education: Assessments

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide a list of the names and address of schools that are participating in the baseline assessment trial.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has received representations on the legality of a child's data being collected through baseline assessment testing but not accessible to (a) the child, (b) the parents of the child and (c) education staff; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The reception baseline assessment was trialled in a nationally representative sample of schools between 10 September and 19 October 2018. Schools’ participation in the trials was voluntary. In line with accepted practice, the names of the schools that are participating in these trials will not be released by the department. Schools were recruited on this basis and releasing this information could adversely affect school participation in future voluntary trialling, which would put our ability to develop high quality, valid and reliable assessments at risk. In our response to the public consultation on the future of the primary assessment system in England, and having noted the support from respondents to that consultation exercise, we confirmed that we would introduce a reception baseline assessment from the 2020 to 2021 academic year onwards. As part of that, we committed to explore the issue of what information from the assessment should be shared with schools. That consideration is continuing and we will make a further announcement prior to the introduction of the assessment.

Schools: Food

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government takes to ensure that the school food standards are enforced.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have been found to be in breach of the school food standards in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: Governing boards are legally responsible for meeting the School Food Standards. If they do not, they should be supported to address the issues and there are a number of organisations that can provide this support. If there are still concerns, the matter can be raised with the Secretary of State for Education who can issue a direction to the school if necessary. Within the last three years, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has not issued a direction in this regard.

Children: Day Care

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of families that have a child eligible for 30 hours of free childcare but mistakenly do not apply for an eligibility code on such families' (a) financial situation and (b) ability to work.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government is committed to ensuring parents who want it have access to high-quality childcare to support them financially and to enable them to work, or work more hours. We have invested in strong and clear communications on the 30 hours offer, including on the cross government website, Childcare Choices (www.childcarechoices.gov.uk), which clearly sets out how and when a parent can access a place.Parents who are eligible for 30 hours but do not apply for any reason are eligible for the universal 15 hour per week early education entitlement. They can also take advantage of Tax-Free Childcare which was introduced earlier this year.

Department for Education: Statistics

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what meetings have taken place between officials of his Department and (a) the UK Statistics Authority and (b) the Office for Statistics Regulation since the exchange of letters between his Department and those organisations dated 8 October 2018 on his Department's use of statistics.

Anne Milton: Officials from the department have close working relationships and regular dialogue with colleagues from the UK Statistics Authority, and its regulatory arm in the Office for Statistics Regulation, in conduct of their day-to-day activities ensuring delivery of high quality statistical outputs.The Permanent Secretary, Jonathan Slater, met with Ed Humpherson, Director General for Regulation at the Office for Statistics Regulation, on 16 October 2018, supported by officials including the Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics. They discussed work within the department to ensure that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value.The integrity of statistics is important across all of politics and public life and any statements should be presented in a way that is both factually accurate and placed in the right context.

IGCSE

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2018 to Question 182779 on IGCSE, how many and what proportion of GCSE entries only in (a) state and (b) independent schools were IGCSEs in 2018; and what types of schools are included as independent schools in those figures.

Nick Gibb: The number of pupils, at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018, entering international GCSEs (and the proportion of the total GCSE and equivalent entries[1] in 2017/18 they constitute) is: Institution typeNumber of international GCSE entriesas a proportion of all  GCSE and equivalent entries1State-funded[2]7,8240.2%Independent[3]26,02410.9%Other (e.g. PRUs and AP)3371.4%All schools34,1850.8% The number of pupils, at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018, entering approved international GCSEs (those which count in the Departments’ school and college performance tables[4]) and the proportion of all approved GCSE and equivalent entries in 2017/18 that they constitute is: Institution typeNumber of international GCSE entries4as a proportion of  GCSE and equivalents1State-funded25,7820.1%Independent31,8480.9%Other (e.g. PRUs and AP)210.1%All schools7,6510.2%  [1] International GCSEs are classed as ‘equivalents’ by the Department, therefore the percentage of International GCSEs is given out of the total GCSE and equivalent entries so that the figures are accurately reflective of the split in types of qualifications sat. GCSEs and equivalents include: Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 (9-1) Certificate, Cambridge International Certificate Level 1/Level 2, International GCSEs (interim): Double Award, International GCSEs (interim), Edexcel Certificates, GCSE Full Course, GCSE (9-1) Full Course, GCSE (9-1) Full Course (Double Award) and Vocational GCSE Single Award.[2] Include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14- to 16-year-olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools and alternative provision.[3] Includes independent and independent special schools.[4] Approved International GCSEs include: Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in Information and Communication Technology, Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in English as a Second Language, Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in Greek, Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in Business Studies, Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in Hindi as a Second Language, Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in Enterprise and Cambridge International Level 1/Level 2 Certificate in Mandarin Chinese.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 5.20 of Budget 2018, how much of the £400 million will be allocated to to maintained nursery schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: We are allocating an additional £400 million capital funding to schools in 2018–19. This funding is in addition to the £1.4 billion of condition allocations already provided this year to those responsible for maintaining school buildings. This supports our priority of ensuring the school estate is well maintained and helps provide a high-quality education.I can confirm that maintained nursery schools will benefit from the funding, along with primary and secondary schools, academies and free schools, non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units, and sixth-form colleges. It will also be allocated to those specialist post-16 institutions that have eligible state-funded pupils.We plan to publish a ready reckoner by December, so that schools can estimate their allocations. We expect to publish the final allocations in the new year.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Drugs

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce substance misuse and dependence in prisons; and if will he make a statement.

Rory Stewart: We have formed a Drugs Taskforce working with law enforcement and health partners across government to coordinate our activities and ensure a holistic approach to tackling substance misuse in prisons. The Taskforce is developing a national Prison Drug Strategy, for publication this autumn, underpinned by advice and guidance that will support the whole of the estate to restrict supply, reduce demand and build recovery.Our Drugs Taskforce is also working specifically with 10 of the most challenging prisons to understand their situation, and will invest £6 million to tackle drug supply in these establishments. We will enhance physical security and invest in more staff focused on effective searching, drug-detection dogs, body scanners, and improved perimeter defences. We will monitor and assess the progress made in these ten prisons to inform our approach and best practice across the estate.We are adopting pioneering approaches, such as our ‘Drug Recovery Prison’ pilot at HMP Holme House, which is leading the way in tackling the supply of drugs and helping prisoners to lead a drug-free life. Security has been bolstered by new body scanners and extra detection dogs while specialist healthcare workers and interventions have been introduced to support recovering users. We have also established a specialist Financial Crime Unit, to identify and freeze bank accounts linked to organised crime behind bars, tackling the criminal kingpins who fuel drug dealing and violence.

Divorce

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the planned timescale is for the consultation on no-fault divorce.

Lucy Frazer: The consultation on the reform of legal requirements for divorce was launched on 15 September 2018. Proposals include removing the requirement for couples to evidence either the other spouse’s conduct (often called “fault”) or the couple’s separation, in order to reduce conflict within the divorce process and help families make arrangements for the future. The consultation is running for 12 weeks and closes on 10 December 2018. The Government will publish its response in due course.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the level of performance of Community Rehabilitation Companies compared with their predecessors.

Rory Stewart: Our reforms to probation mean we are now monitoring around 40,000 offenders who would previously have been released with no supervision at all. We have seen a reduction of two percentage points in the reoffending rates of those supervised by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). We have been clear, however, that overall performance of CRCs needs to improve across a range of areas. We have taken decisive action to stabilise and improve the delivery of probation services, including by investing £22m per year to enhance ‘Through The Gate’ services and introducing minimum standards so that all providers offer monthly face-to-face meetings with offenders during their first 12 months of supervision. In September, we concluded a public consultation on proposals to end current CRC contracts early and introduce new arrangements for delivering probation services that will better integrate public, private and third sector probation providers and improve outcomes. We will bring forward more detailed plans early next year.

Alternatives to Prison

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to increase public confidence in non-custodial sentences.

Rory Stewart: The sentencing framework gives courts the flexibility to select community order requirements which are a robust alternative to custody, and are tailored to address the specific issues that contribute to reoffending. Probation services are vital to the effective delivery of community sentences. In July we published the consultation Strengthening Probation, Building Confidence setting out the Government’s vision for improving probation including proposals to promote meaningful unpaid work schemes which both make reparation to communities and equip offenders with employment-related skills and experience. The action we propose to take will ensure that courts and the public can be confident that offenders sentenced to community and suspended sentence orders will be properly supervised, receive the rehabilitative support they need and that appropriate action is taken if offenders fail to comply with requirements. We continue to actively explore many other options to improve non-custodial sentences, including better electronic tagging.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of developing the Common Platform programme.

Lucy Frazer: As at the 31 March 2018, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had spent £134m on the Common Platform Programme.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people employed by his Department are working (a) full-time and (b) part-time on developing the Common Platform programme.

Lucy Frazer: As at the 30 September 2018, HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) employed i) 53 full time Civil Servants and ii) 1 part time Civil Servant on developing the Common Platform Programme.

Convictions: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction ratio in Wales was for (a) violence against a person or persons, (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery, (d) theft offences, (e) criminal damage and arson, (f) drug offences, (g) possession of a weapon or weapons, (h) public order offences, (i) miscellaneous crimes against society, (j) fraud offences, (k) summary offences involving motoring, (l) summary offences not involving motoring and (m) indictable offences in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many defendants were convicted in Wales in (a) a Magistrates’ Court (b) a Crown Court, and (c) all court types in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction ratios in Wales were from (a) Magistrates’ Courts, (b) Crown Courts and (c) all court types in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction ratios were in Wales for (a) juvenile offenders, (b) young adult offenders, (c) adult offenders and (d) uncategorised age offenders in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction ratios were in Wales for (a) male offenders, (b) female offenders and (c) offenders of uncategorised sex in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction ratios were in Wales for offenders categorised as (a) white, (b) mixed ethnic, (c) Asian or Asian British including Chinese, (d) black or black British and (e) Chinese and uncategorised ethnicity in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many defendants were directed to appear at magistrates’ courts in Wales in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many defendants were arrested and bailed by police in Wales in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of defendants were remanded in custody by police in Wales in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of defendants were summonsed in Wales in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of defendants appeared before (a) a Magistrates’ Court, (b) a Crown Court and (c) all court types in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the conviction ratio was in Wales of defendants from (a) Magistrates’ Courts, (b) Crown Courts and (c) all court types in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the overall cautioning rate in Wales in each year between 2013 and 2017 for summary offences not involving motoring.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many defendants in Wales appeared before (a) magistrates courts, (b) Crown court and (c) all court types in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Rory Stewart: Information requested can be found at the following published data tools from the Criminal Justice Statistics: December 2017 report (published May 2018): Court Outcomes by Police Force Areahttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733996/court-outcomes-by-pfa-2017-update.xlsx  Out of Court Disposalshttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733984/out-of-court-disposals-tool-2017-update.xlsx   Remands: Magistrates’ Court https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733986/remands-magistrates-tool-2017-update.xlsx Remands: Crown Courthttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733988/remands-crown-court-tool-2017-update.xlsx To limit the data to Wales in all of the above tools, select Welsh Police forces from the ‘Police Force Area’ filter. For prosecutions, convictions and conviction ratios by court, age, offence group, offence type and ethnicity use the Court Outcomes by Police Force Area data tool.Prosecutions: select ‘Magistrates’ court’ from the ‘Court Type’ filter. All cases are first heard at Magistrates Court and more serious cases are sent for trial or sentencing at Crown Court.Convictions: use the ‘Convicted/Not Convicted’ field to filter the dataConviction ratio: calculated as the number of defendants convicted (at all courts) divided by the number of defendants proceeded against (at magistrates’ court) within a given year. Cautioning rates can be calculated using the Cautions pivot table in the Out of Courts Disposals data tool, which has a field to filter for ‘Offence group’. Remand rates by age, sex, ethnicity and custodial sentence can be calculated using the Remands: Magistrates’ Court and Remands: Crown Court data tools.

Bail: Wales

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many defendants in Wales were released on bail during the period of their trial in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the remand rate was in Wales for (a) violence against a person or persons, (b) sexual offences, (c) robbery, (d) theft offences, (e) criminal damage and arson, (f) drug offences, (g) possession of a weapon or weapons, (h) public order offences, (i) miscellaneous crimes against society, (j) fraud offences, (k) summary offences involving motoring, (l) summary offences not involving motoring and (m) indictable offences in each year from 2013 to 2017.

Rory Stewart: .These questions can be answered using the following published data tools from the Criminal Justice Statistics: December 2017 report (published May 2018): Remands: Magistrates’ Court https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733986/remands-magistrates-tool-2017-update.xlsx Remands: Crown Courthttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733988/remands-crown-court-tool-2017-update.xlsx To limit the data to Wales, select Welsh Police forces from the ‘Police Force Area’ filter.

Prisoners: Per Capita Costs

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost per prisoner in England and Wales has been in each of the last 10 years.

Rory Stewart: An average cost per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. Information on prison expenditure can be accessed in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages for each financial year on the www.gov.uk website. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document titled Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment under the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The most recent published figures for financial year 2017-18 can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2017-to-2018 We are investing tens of millions of pounds extra in prisons to ensure they remain places of rehabilitation and safe for prisoners and staff. This includes the recruitment and training of over 3,500 new prison officers in the last two years which has increased our spending on prisons. This investment ensures prisoners have a genuine chance to turn their lives around and ultimately protects the public from crime.

Prisons

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average (a) prison population and (b) number of prison officers was in each of the last 10 years in England and Wales.

Rory Stewart: Prison population statistics and workforce statistics are regularly published. Population statistics can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly. HM Prison and Probation workforce statistics (which contains staffing figures in public sector prisons but not in privately managed prisons) are published quarterly. The latest publication can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/her-majestys-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-march-2018 Below is a table showing the average number of Prison Officers present in Public Sector Prisons, alongside annual average prison population figures. The population data was based on the 12 month end prison populations apart form for 2008 and 2009. Due to technical problems relating to the supply of data for statistical purposes, month end population data was not available for the period from July 2009 to February 2010, so data for the last Friday of the month has been used instead (except for December 2009, where the 18 December was used). In relation to the workforce data the figures include Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers working in public sector prisons. It should be noted that as with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time to ensure consistency of reporting. However, the database itself is dynamic and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate.YearPrison population annual averageFinancial YearAverage number of band 3-5 officers200882,5722008/0925,233200983,5592009/1025,915201084,7252010/1125,359201185,9512011/1224,286201286,6342012/1322,102201384,2492013/1419,719201485,3072014/1517,984201585,6262015/1618,355201685,3482016/1718,104201785,6322017/1819,581 Prison officer numbers are at their highest in five years, which is vital to ensuring prisons are safe, secure and decent. We now have over 3,500 additional staff in post compared to October 2016. The recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, reducing reoffending and crucially, rehabilitating offenders.

Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much of the proposed additional money for the Advocates' Graduated Fee scheme the Government plans to allocate from (a) existing Ministry of Justice and (b) new Treasury funding.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the provisions of the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 will come into force.

Edward Argar: I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the reply given on 3 September by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice (Lucy Frazer QC) to the question asked by the Right Honourable Member for Camberwell and Peckham (Harriet Harman) [PQ 166048]

Probation: Death

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) rate and (b) cause of deaths was per 1,000 former offenders in the community under the post-release supervision of (i) community rehabilitation companies and (ii) the National Probation Service in the latest period for which information is available.

Rory Stewart: The information requested is provided in the table below. Please note that offenders may appear both within the caseload figures of court orders (including community orders and suspended sentence orders), and post-release supervision.Deaths of offenders in the community by apparent cause1, and rate per 1,000 offenders, England and Wales 2017/18  NPS CRCs Caseload as at March 2018(2) 55,298  135,969  Cause of death Number of deaths in the communityDeaths per 1,000 offenders(3) Number of deaths in the communityDeaths per 1,000 offenders(3) Self-inflicted 781.4 2071.5 Natural Causes 991.8 2011.5 Homicide 60.1 210.2 Accident 150.3 600.4 Other 40.1 130.1 Unclassified3 941.7 1571.2 Total 2965.4 6594.8 (1) Apparent cause is as reported in annual returns and has not been independently verified.(2) The caseload volume represents a snapshot of offenders under probation supervision on 31 March 2018, rather than the number of individual offenders supervised throughout the year.(3) Unclassified deaths refer to those deaths for which a cause was unknown at the time of reporting.

Prisoners: Per Capita Costs

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's report entitled cost per place and costs per prisoner by individual prison, published on 25 October 2018, what the reasons are for the difference in the cost of prison places per prisoner in a public sector prison compared with a private sector prison.

Rory Stewart: An average cost per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales are routinely published by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year in the Prison and Probation Performance Statistics pages on the www.gov.uk website. There are a number of factors which will cause differences in costs between individual prisons which are common to both public sector and private sector prisons, such as the size, age, location, design and security category of the prison, the mix of prisoners (including gender and age) and the internal regime and rehabilitation programmes followed. Public and private sector groups of prisons are not homogenous in terms of prison category and these factors may result in a greater impact on average costs rather than whether the prisons are public or private sector.Additionally, the costs of public and private prisons may not be directly comparable because of differences in accounting treatment and the scope of services provided. In terms of accounting treatment, the operating costs are based on resource expenditure as recorded in HMPPS Annual Accounts. The different financing methods of PFI prisons mean that in an individual year, overall operating costs are not directly comparable.Similarly, there are differences between contracted prisons where variations in the scope of costs for each private prison contract will reflect different contract specifications. For instance, a number of private sector contracts include the provision of health and education services, whereas within the public sector these services are provided by other government departments and so are not included.

Reoffenders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the re-offending rate has been in each year since 2010 for (a) male and (b) female prisoners who have served a custodial sentence of (i) 0 -1 month (ii) 0 - 3 months and (iii) 0 - 6 months.

Rory Stewart: Adult proven reoffending data, broken down by gender and custodial sentence length, can be viewed in the table. This information is broken down by a custodial sentence length of 0-1 months, a custodial sentence length of 0-3 months, and a custodial sentence length of 0-6 months.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 29.65 KB)

Legal Aid Scheme: Slavery

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether EEA nationals who (a) have a positive reasonable grounds decision as a potential victim in the National Referral Mechanism and (b) have a positive conclusive grounds decision as a victim of trafficking or modern slavery, will be entitled to legal aid for immigration advice under paragraphs 32 and 32A of Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to make an application to (i) confirm their EU law rights and (ii) for Settled Status.

Lucy Frazer: There is specific legal aid provision for victims of modern slavery and human trafficking for immigration advice and representation, including assistance with applications for leave to enter or remain, subject to means and merits.The EU Settlement Scheme will provide a streamlined, user-friendly process, in line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union published on 19 March 2018, for resident EU citizens and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status which they will require in order to remain in the UK beyond the end of the planned implementation period on 31 December 2020. For those EU citizens who might need additional help when applying under the scheme, the Home Office has announced a grant scheme for the voluntary and community sector which will help to ensure support is available.

Legal Aid Scheme: Immigrants

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether for the purpose of legal aid eligibility (a) an application for a derivative rights of residence card and (b) a residence or permanent residence card or confirmation of settled status or pre settled status, are equivalent to an application for leave to enter or remain; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The EU Settlement Scheme will provide a streamlined, user-friendly process, in line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union published on 19 March 2018, for resident EU citizens and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status which they will require in order to remain in the UK beyond the end of the planned implementation period on 31 December 2020. An application for a residence card is not an application for leave to enter or remain and legal aid to assist with such an application is outside the scope of the legal aid scheme. Exceptional case funding may be available where there is a breach, or risk of a breach, of EU law or ECHR rights

Office of the Public Guardian: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice,  how many staff are (a) employed directly by, (b) seconded to and (c) work under contract in the Office of the Public Guardian.

Edward Argar: The Office of the Public Guardian employs the following staff (as of 30th October 2018):a) 1281 permanent civil service staff (1199.23 full time equivalent)b) 213 agency staff (199.91 FTE)4 contractors/interims

Offenders: Homelessness

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of the prison population were (a) homeless and (b) living in temporary or insecure accommodation before entering prison in each year since 2014.

Rory Stewart: Table 1 below provides data on the number of prisoners that declared their accommodation status as of ‘No Fixed Abode’ on their reception into custody, April 2016 – March 2018. The data for 2014 and 2015 is not held. Table 1 Year201620172018 (Jan to March)Total prisoner receptions into custody (Basic Custody Screening Tool)105,782103,22525,033Number of homeless prisoners24,94226,7006,825Percentage23.58%25.87%27.26% Table 2 provides data on the number of prisoners who declared their accommodation as temporary/insecure on their reception into custody, April 2016 – March 2018. The data for 2014 and 2015 is not held. Table 2 Year201620172018 (Jan - March)Total prisoner receptions into custody (Basic Custody Screening Tool)105,782103,22525,033Temporary / Insecure accommodation6,4085,5431,264Percentage6.06%5.37%5.05% NotesThe Basic Custody Screening Tool (BCS) is completed on entry to custody for all prisoners. It therefore will include a mix of those received into custody on remand and those sentenced from court. Using just the BCS, there is no way to determine which of those received into custody on remand were released un-convicted, therefore it is important to stress that this data covers prisoners, and can’t be used to describe offenders, as some of those counted will ultimately not have been found guilty of any offence.The BCS Part 1 is completed by the prison with no input from a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) as they complete Part 2 of the BCS.These questions from the BCS Part 1 are recorded as per the prisoner’s answers and are not assessed.The total number of prisoners shown is for the number of fully completed BCS Part 1s for each year, based on the Reception Date for each prisoner.A proportion of prisoners will enter custody multiple times each year and for this PQ all responses have been included as a prisoner may provide different answers to these questions over time.These figures have not been checked over or confirmed by the statistics team.  Everyone should have a safe and suitable home to live; having somewhere to live gives people a stable platform from which to access health services, hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them reoffending. Staff in both Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service work together with local authorities and other providers of accommodation with the aim of ensuring all offenders under our supervision have accommodation especially when they are released from prison.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of statutory instruments related to the UK leaving the EU that will need to be passed which will be sponsored by his Department.

James Brokenshire: The Government remains confident of ensuring a functioning statute book as we leave the EU. All statutory instruments are being published on legislation.gov.uk, and the Government has committed that statutory instruments relating to EU Exit will be clearly titled. To date, my department has laid four such statutory instruments.

Schools: Insulation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's new s story entitled Government announces new housing measures, published on 1 October 2018, whether he plans to extend the ban on combustible materials to all schools irrespective of height.

Kit Malthouse: The Government consulted on applying the ban to residential buildings with a top storey more than 18 metres above ground level, in line with current Building Regulations guidance. The majority of respondents to the consultation showed support for this height threshold and it will be used as the basis for the ban, to be consistent with current guidance.   To protect children and young people, the ban will extend to all student accommodation and residential accommodation in schools, for buildings over 18 metres. Schools can be evacuated within a matter of minutes in the event of a fire. Every school must have a Fire Risk Assessment and new schools undergo an additional check while being designed. The Government will review the 18 metres height threshold as part of the wider technical review of the Building Regulations for fire safety set to start in the autumn.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer given of 25 July 2018 to Question 164527 on Buildings: Insulation, how many high-rise student accommodation blocks above 18 meters there are in England and Wales with rainscreen cladding.

Kit Malthouse: The Government’s Building Safety Programme is tracking the remediation of residential buildings over 18 metres with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems. We do not hold the relevant information for any buildings with other rainscreen cladding systems. We can confirm that as of 12 October 2018 there are 62 high-rise (over 18 metres) private sector student accommodation buildings in England with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet current Building Regulations guidance. The relevant figure for Wales is a matter for the devolved administration.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer given on 25 July 2018 to Question 164527 on Buildings: Insulation, how many non-high-rise, below 18 meters, student accommodation blocks there are in England and Wales with rainscreen cladding.

Kit Malthouse: The Government’s Building Safety Programme is tracking the remediation of residential buildings over 18 metres with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems. We do not therefore hold the relevant information for any buildings below 18 metres with either unsafe ACM cladding systems or other rainscreen cladding. The relevant figure for Wales is a matter for the appropriate devolved administration.

Insulation: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of increased fire safety of  the use of (a) A1 rated cladding and (b) A2 rated cladding.

James Brokenshire: The consultation document on banning the use of combustible materials the external walls of high rise residential buildings can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717216/Combustible_Cladding_Consultation.pdf. This set out the distinctions betweensub classes A1 and A2 in Class A of the European classification system set out in BS EN 13501.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the proposed ban on the use of combustible materials on the external walls of high-rise residential buildings, what steps he plans to take to ensure that materials subsequently used do not emit toxic fumes in the event of a fire.

James Brokenshire: The Government has announced that it will be undertaking a technical review of the Building Regulations fire safety guidance. That will include consideration of issues about toxic fumes released from materials used in external wall systems in the event of a fire.

Recreation Spaces

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if the Government will set up a dedicated fund to support community groups that seek to challenge appeals by developers in relation to open and green spaces.

Kit Malthouse: The Government recognises that access to a network of open and green spaces is important for the health and well-being of communities, and the planning system highlights this in a number of ways. Our revised National Planning Policy Framework sets out that sufficient provision for the conservation and enhancement of green infrastructure should be included in strategic planning policies, the importance of green infrastructure in encouraging healthy lifestyles, and makes provision for communities to identify and protect green areas of particular importance to them through the designation of land as Local Green Space through local and neighbourhood plans.The planning system acts as a control on an individual’s use of land and therefore it is right that they should have an impartial appeal against the refusal of planning permission. An independent Planning Inspector will give careful consideration to the planning merits of the case and take into account the views of the local planning authority and local residents before reaching a decision to allow or dismiss an appeal. Therefore any submissions made by community groups at the planning application stage will also be a matter for consideration at appeal.

Local Plans

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the procurement of external consultancy resources for Local Plans recorded in his Department's Exceptions to spending controls: consultancy, October to December 2017, published on 25 October 2018, if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) business case for and (b) output from that project.

James Brokenshire: The business case for the procurement of consultancy services for intervention in Local Plans is commercially sensitive, therefore I do not intend to place this in the House Library. The overarching objective of the procurement exercise was to put in place the necessary capacity and capability so as to allow the Secretary of State to intervene and bring about the accelerated adoption of Local Plans in areas where there had been a failure to get a Local Plan in place. As a result of the procurement exercise we identified three contractors, those being AECOM, Ove Arup and WSP Lichfield, who will be used to provide the necessary capacity and capability, as and when intervention is required.

Right to Buy Scheme

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether someone seeking to port their right to buy discount for a second time is entitled to if their first attempt to purchase and use that discount is unsuccessful.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of homes that are available to buy under the porting arrangements of the Midlands voluntary right to buy pilot.

Kit Malthouse: If a tenant is offered and accepts the opportunity to 'port' their Right to Buy discount to another property through the Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot, their application will be paused to allow them time to discuss alternative properties with their housing association. It is up to individual housing associations to determine the extent of their porting offer, and the number of alternative properties that will be made available to tenants, depending on what is reasonable for the circumstances locally.The Government has not collected information on the number of homes that are available to buy under the porting arrangements. This will be gathered as part of the Government’s evaluation of the pilot that will follow its completion.

Right to Buy Scheme: Midlands

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether everyone who is successful in the ballot and deemed eligible for the Midlands voluntary right to buy pilot will have the opportunity to buy a property under that scheme.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will undertake a mid-point review of the Midlands voluntary right to buy pilot to assess whether there is sufficient funding in place to cover all sales.

Kit Malthouse: The Department will closely monitor the progress of the Midlands pilot, and the spending of the budget as the pilot progresses, to ensure that as many eligible tenants as possible have the opportunity to become home owners under the scheme.6,000 tenants were successful in the ballot. Evidence from the scheme for council tenants, and the initial small-scale pilot that completed in 2017, suggests that a high number of tenants who make an application may not go on to complete a sale, for example because they do not meet the eligibility criteria, or because they are unable to fund the remainder of the purchase.It is expected that the pilot budget of £200 million will fund somewhere in the region of 3,000 sales, though this figure may vary, depending on the average discount being claimed, and the level of drop out.

Localism Act 2011

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to publish its post-legislative memorandum on the Localism Act 2011.

Rishi Sunak: Work is currently underway on a memorandum setting out the Department’s post-legislative scrutiny assessment of the Localism Act 2011. This will be submitted to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and published in due course.

Housing Ombudsman Service: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff are (a) employed directly by, (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract at the Housing Ombudsmen.

Jake Berry: The total number of staff employed by the Housing Ombudsman Service as of 30 October 2018 was as follows: (a) Directly Employed(b) Seconded to(c) Work Under Contract6318

Ministry of Defence

AWACS: Procurement

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the market analysis undertaken by his Department in advance of the announcement made by his Department of 3 October 2018 of the commencement of exclusive discussions with Boeing on the replacement for the Sentry fleet.

Stuart Andrew: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 October 2018 to Question 177235 to the hon. Member for Llanelli (Ms Griffith).



177235 - AWACS: Procurement
(Word Document, 27.99 KB)

Air Force: Military Aid

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 176506, how many pilots the RAF has trained on behalf of other countries broken down by country in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Lancaster: Pilots from other nations routinely train alongside RAF pilots. Between 1 January 2009 and 30 October 2018, the following were trained by the RAF on behalf of other countries: NationNumber of pilotsAlgeria14Australia~Bahrain5Brunei7Iraq14Kenya12Kuwait97Netherlands~New Zealand~Oman16Portugal~Qatar7Saudi Arabia102UAE5 Where numbers are below 5, they have been replaced with ‘~’ in order to avoid the identification of individual pilots. It is not possible to identify the numbers of pilots trained each year, as training typically spans multiple years.

Air Force: Military Aid

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2018 to Question 176506, what estimate he has made of the revenue received from training pilots of behalf of other countries broken down by country in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Lancaster: Between 1 January 2009 and 30 October 2018, the RAF received approximately £95 million from training pilots of behalf of other countries. This information cannot be broken down by year, as pilot training typically spans multiple years. Furthermore, the revenue by country cannot be released, as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and other states.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the fight against Daesh.

Mark Lancaster: The net additional cost of counter-Daesh operations in Financial Year 2017-18 was £583.1 million. Additional costs in previous years are as follows: Financial Year2014-152015-162016-172017-18Total (£million)47.2262.4469.4583.1

Iran: International Military Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the capacity of the (a) Government and (b) International Military Services (IMS) to repay the IMS debt to Iran in the event of potential changes to sanctions against that country.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will conduct a risk assessment of the non settlement of historic debt obligations to Iran; and if he will place a copy of that assessment in the Library.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the merits of continuing the litigation process with Iran on the UK debt to that country.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence does not have any historical debt obligations to Iran and no litigation against the UK Government so no such risk assessments have been made.

Army: Young People

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2018 to Question 147490, what progress is being made on the Army's review of junior entry.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2018 to Question 147490 on Army: Young People, what the planned completion date is for the Army review of Junior Entry.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2018 to Question 147490 on Army: Young People, if he will place a copy of the completed Army review of Junior Entry in the Library.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2018 to Question 147490 on Army: Young People, whether delays have been incurred in the Army review of Junior Entry.

Mark Lancaster: The Army is in the process of finalising its report, prior to submission to Ministers. It remains our intent to share the findings of the review with Parliament. The supporting policy work has been ongoing throughout the review and has taken longer than initially anticipated.

Army: Young People

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 23 May 2018 to Question 147490, if he will publish the terms of reference of the Army's review of junior entry.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor (Mike Penning) on 27 February 2017 to Question 64193 to the hon. Member for Bridgend (Mrs Moon). 



64193 - Army: Young People
(Word Document, 26.4 KB)

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2018 to Question 134413 on Army: Recruitment, if he will publish the regional breakdown for the direct paid marketing on social media platforms in recruiting year 2015-16.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 16 July 2018 to Question 161579.



161579 - Army: Recruitment
(Word Document, 26.52 KB)

Minesweepers

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made on the Countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability project.

Stuart Andrew: The Mine Countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability project has successfully completed the first part of its Assessment Phase. The key output to date has been the successful demonstration of an unmanned minesweeping capability.

Iran: International Military Services

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the Chieftain tank debt dispute with Iran has not been settled; and what the main impediments are which prevent the resolution of that issue by IMS Ltd.

Stuart Andrew: The dispute is the subject of ongoing litigation initiated by the Ministry of Defence and Support for the Armed Forces of Iran against International Military Services Ltd. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment.

Department for Work and Pensions

Statutory Sick Pay

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has in place to communicate to key stakeholders in Government and the public and private sectors the outcome of her rapid review of the Allied Health Professions Advisory Fitness for Work Report which clarified that the report can be used to provide medical evidence for the purpose of statutory sick pay.

Sarah Newton: The Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) Regulations 1985 already allow for other forms of medical information to be used in place of a fit note as long as there is an agreement between employer and employee that the other option, which can include an Allied Health Professions Advisory Fitness for Work Report, is acceptable. The regulations do not however name a particular alternative as being the most suitable replacement. In November 2017, The Government Command paper “Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability” committed to investigating the feasibility of using the AHP Advisory Fitness for Work Report for the purposes of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). The Paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-lives-the-future-of-work-health-and-disability A rapid review was held in February 2018 involving extensive work by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) with its fellow organisations under the Allied Health Professions Federation and the Joint Department for Health and Social Care and Department for Work and Pensions Work and Health Unit. Following this, the RCOT and Chartered Society of Physiotherapists released a statement advising their members that the Allied Health Professions report can be used to provide evidence for the purposes of SSP and encouraging them to increase their use of this document within their professional remits. The link to statement can be found here: https://www.rcot.co.uk/news/ahp-advisory-fitness-work-report-admissible-evidence-statutory-sick-pay

Department for Work and Pensions: Capita

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which contracts awarded by her Department are operated by Capita.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions has 4 live contracts operated by Capita. They are; Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment Service Lot 2: Central England and WalesNetwork Management Contact CentreJobseeker's Allowance New Claims Contact Centre ServiceImproving Access to Psychological Therapies Employment Adviser Training

Conditions of Employment

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to ensure that the proposed June 2019 ILO Convention includes (a) informal workers and (b) the world’s other poorest workers.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the ILO Brown report on ending violence and harassment in the world of work, whether the Government supports the definitions in that report of (a) violence and harassment, (b) workplace and (c) worker.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to discuss the proposed June 2019 ILO Convention with (a) Governments of African countries and (b) other Governments.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with her African counterparts on support for the International Labour Organisation convention to end violence and harassment in the world of work.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 30 October 2018



The Government supports the adoption of an ILO Convention on ending violence and harassment in the world of work. The Government is fully engaged in discussions in the ILO on the scope and content of the proposed Convention and as part of that is in regular contact with other states on this issue. The text of the Convention under negotiation includes informal workers and, if universally ratified, would apply to the world’s poorest workers. The Government’s position on the definitions and scope of the Convention is that it should provide broad coverage, whilst being ratifiable by as large a number of the ILO’s membership as possible.

Universal Credit: Housing

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason universal credit excludes a housing (a) benefit and (b) costs element for people living in temporary or hostel accommodation; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that policy on the standard of living of people in that accommodation.

Justin Tomlinson: Since April 2018, people who are living in temporary accommodation but claiming Universal Credit, have their housing costs met through Housing Benefit. It is a statutory duty for local authorities to provide temporary accommodation to certain groups of vulnerable people and this change ensures local authority funding for vital emergency housing services continues. For people living in hostels and other types of supported accommodation, following the consultations held on achieving a sustainable funding provision for this sector, we announced in August that we will maintain Housing Benefit for all supported housing groups including hostels. This decision reflects the needs of those vulnerable groups of people and the Government’s commitment to protect them. In terms of the effect of the above policies on the standard of living of people in that accommodation, no such assessment has been made.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish a review of the Youth Obligation; and what the terms of reference will be for that review.

Alok Sharma: The Youth Obligation Support Programme (YOSP) is still in the process of being rolled out to Universal Credit Full Service jobcentres. We will consider an evaluation once the YOSP rollout is complete and enough time has passed to allow sufficient data to be reviewed.

Personal Independence Payment: Parkinson's Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidance on the assessment for personal independent payment of people with Parkinson's.

Sarah Newton: The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment is designed to consider claimants on a case by case basis and look at the functional impact of their disability, rather than the disability itself. Therefore the PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals does not contain specific condition based guidance. 55% of PIP recipients with Parkinson’s are in receipt of the enhanced rate daily living and mobility components, compared with 41% of DLA recipients in receipt of the highest rate of DLA care and mobility components.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there are targets for the amount of time call centre staff spend on the phone to universal credit (a) applicants and (b) service users; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: There are no targets for time spent on the telephone to applicants or service users. Call durations vary dependant on the needs of the caller, and team leaders are encouraged to observe interactions to assure call quality.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the scripts that Universal Credit call centre workers use to answer calls from service users or applicants.

Alok Sharma: There are no scripts currently in use in Universal Credit for call handlers, the service does however guide colleagues through certain agent led processes to ensure correct steps are taken when appropriate. In addition there are supportive lines available to agents to assist claimants with being able to self-serve where this is appropriate.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data is collected by her Department on the experience of claimants using universal credit helplines.

Alok Sharma: The Department conducts a regular independent customer survey for all main benefits, composed of around 15,000 telephone interviews per year. During 2018/19 around 4,500 Universal Credit claimants will be interviewed and questions will cover the whole of the customer experience, including telephone contact. In future we will conduct Universal Credit specific surveys. The Department uses standard call recording technology, the data is used to assess the quality of service our staff provide.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training is provided to universal credit helpline employees; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: DWP staff servicing the Universal Credit helplines have a three week facilitated learning period. This structured learning provides the skills and knowledge required to support them to answer claimant queries. Call agents may use aides to help effectively process the case and provide coaching for claimants about how to manage their online Universal Credit account. As we change processes, guidance is updated and provided to call agents at the appropriate time.

Pensions: Consumer Information

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that private pensions are accessible through the pensions dashboard.

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to ensure that State Pension information is accessible through the pensions dashboard to enable (a) pensioners and (b) people approaching retirement age to make informed decisions.

Guy Opperman: Private Pensions information will be available through dashboards. Delivery of these will be led by industry and facilitated by government. We will set out and consult on our proposed approach to delivery, including how to maximise private pension schemes participation in the dashboard in our feasibility report, which will be published shortly. People can already access the online ‘Check your State Pension’ service through GOV.UK to get a forecast of their State Pension. This includes information about how they may be able to improve the amount of State Pension they are entitled to, as well as providing a view of their National Insurance contribution record. Check Your State Pension service has provided more than ten million online estimates since its introduction in 2016.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people (a) have started the Youth Obligation Support Programme and (b) are taking part in the Youth Obligation Support Programme for the most recent period for which information is available.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to update the number of Youth Obligation Support Programme (a) starters and (b) participants.

Alok Sharma: As the Youth Obligation Support Programme, is being rolled out across the country as part of the broader Universal Credit roll-out, we are using a test and learn process to deliver our services. We are currently reviewing how we best collect and assimilate data on the Youth Obligation Support Programme, to assure ourselves of its delivery.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to the universal credit helpline were (a) received and (b) abandoned in each month from November 2017 to date .

Alok Sharma: The table below shows the total number of calls received each month to the Universal Credit helplines and the total number of calls abandoned by the caller in each month.  Calls ReceivedCalls AbandonedNov-17--Dec-17802,752101,460Jan-181,093,644106,273Feb-18988,243120,511Mar-181,056,778133,124Apr-181,028,343122,402May-181,065,983153,988Jun-181,128,677214,973Jul-181,230,751249,513Aug-181,230,985256,914Sep-181,171,124209,140 Notes:The data provided is for Universal Credit Full and Live Service, including outsourced helplines and is derived from unpublished management information, collected and intended for Departmental use. This has not been quality assured to national statistics or official statistics publication standards.Calls “Abandoned” is the total number of calls abandoned by the caller.Accurate telephony data for the complete month of November 2017 is not available due to a technical issue during roll out of the DWP Next Generation Contact Centre (NGCC) system.

Universal Credit: North West

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new universal credit claimants have waited longer than five weeks for initial payment in (a) the North West, (b) Merseyside and (c) Wallasey constituency in each month since January 2018.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. I refer the hon Member to Question 177770 which provides national data for the period January to June 2018. In many cases, where full payment is not made on time by the end of the first assessment period, this is as a result of unresolved issues such as: some claimants have not signed their Claimant Commitment or passed identity checks, and the others have outstanding verification issues, such as for housing and self-employed earnings. Whilst this verification is on-going, many of these claimants receive a part payment for those elements of the claim that have been resolved.

Independent Case Examiner

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints have been (a) received, (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson: The table below provides details of the number of complaints (a) received; (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 (we have interpreted (c) as a request for the number of concluded complaint examinations). MonthComplaints receivedComplaints accepted for investigationConcluded complaint examinationsJanuary 201728312172February 20172509270March 2017448140109April 201738024458May 201744525284June 201739122685July 201749130483August 201750733669September 201751232671October 201766442881November 201755637376December 20173586665January 201858513085February 20185178282March 20184511783April 201847917774May 201843014787June 2018444309108July 201841537091August 2018442238104September 201837311691

Universal Credit

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place copies of the transcripts of all universal credit adverts that have been broadcast on radio stations and music-streaming platforms in the Library.

Alok Sharma: A copy of the requested transcripts will be placed in the library.

Social Security Benefits

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of working people in receipt of top up benefits are resident in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) in each region of the UK and (c) in the UK.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fisheries: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations he has received from Cornish fishermen on the (a) towing of gear away from Cornish boats and (b) turning off of AIS transponders by French fishing boats; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: A number of representations were received, including from the Cornish Fish Producers Organisation Ltd (CFPO), regarding the alleged incidents involving French fishing vessels within the UK’s territorial waters. The Marine Management Organisation held discussions with fishermen in Cornwall about the alleged incidents. They investigated and passed information to the French Authorities. We understand that the CFPO held constructive talks with their French counterparts and agreed ways of working which will avoid similar incidents. The arrangements will be reviewed in December.

Air Pollution: Death

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of excess deaths in England caused by air pollution.

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of air pollution in schools to the overall number of excess deaths due to air pollution in England.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution, published a report in August 2018 (Associations of long-term average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide with mortality), stating: “[…] the range of central estimates of the mortality burden of long-term exposure to the air pollution mixture in 2013 in the UK was an effect equivalent to 28,000 to 36,000 deaths at typical ages, associated with a loss of 328,000 – 416,000 life years […]” The statistics used are not cited as the specific cause of death of any individual, but reflect an equivalency which is used to assess the different impacts of factors contributing to death. The Committee has not attributed specific morbidity to schools or children in this report, rather to the whole population. The report can be seen here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/734799/COMEAP_NO2_Report.pdf Air quality is the biggest environmental threat to public health, and so this Government has put in place a £3.5 billion plan to clean up our air. The Department also published our draft Clean Air Strategy for consultation this May, setting out our ambition for cleaner air for all. We will publish the final Strategy later this year. The Department is also shortly bringing forward a new Environment Bill, which will include strong measures to improve the air we all breathe.

Farmers: Finance

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the equitable funding for farmers throughout the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The Government has pledged to protect the amount we allocate to farming support, in cash terms, until the end of this Parliament. We will be working closely with HM Treasury and the devolved administrations to deliver this commitment and on the longer term funding arrangements for agriculture.On 16 October the Government announced a review of the intra-UK allocation of domestic farm support funding until the end of this Parliament. The independent review will be chaired by Lord Bew of Donegore and will look at what factors should be taken into account to ensure an equitable intra-UK allocation of domestic farm support funding between 2020 and 2022. This review will help to ensure fair funding for farmers in the UK as we leave the EU and will consider a range of factors reflecting the unique circumstances of each of the four parts of the UK.The Government has ruled out simply applying the Barnett Formula to Defra’s replacement CAP funding beyond this Parliament. This means that farmers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will not just be allocated funding according to the population size of each nation, which are in each case significantly smaller than England.

Trees: Conservation

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support tree health and (b) prevent the spread of infectious diseases in trees.

George Eustice: Defra is committed to protecting our trees from pests and diseases and building the resilience of our trees and plants. In May we published a new Tree Health Resilience Strategy. The strategy sets out plans to protect England’s trees from pests and diseases. The UK has robust controls in place to protect against tree pest and disease threats. These include being the most prolific user of the EU Protected Zone system, comprehensive official inspections and surveillance and a statutory notification scheme for certain tree species imported from the EU. Horizon scanning for new and emerging threats associated with tree imports is carried out continuously and the results are considered monthly by all UK Plant Health Authorities, facilitated by Defra’s Plant Health Risk Group. The UK Plant Health Risk Register is the principal screening tool used for this purpose and all outputs are published. The Register now has over 1000 entries, informing decision making and prioritisation in relation to tree health threats. Our approach is updated on a frequent basis, to protect against new and revised threats.

Dogs: Disease Control

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Dogs Trust report entitled Puppy smuggling - when will this cruel trade end?, whether he plans to shorten the tapeworm treatment period for dogs before entry to the UK from 120 hours to 48 hours after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Defra takes the risk of the notifiable disease caused by the tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis, very seriously because of the profound impact this could have on public health if it were to become established in the United Kingdom (UK). Since harmonising our domestic pet travel rules with those of the EU in January 2012, we ensured that tapeworm controls were maintained, with a treatment period which was expected to increase traveller compliance, while still presenting a very low risk of disease incursion. Those measures have been sufficient to keep the UK free of Echinococcus multilocularis. Defra has no plans to amend the tapeworm controls for pet animals entering the UK but continues to monitor the disease situation through routine surveillance measures and will undertake a further, formal risk assessment, if evidence indicates that one is warranted.

Food and Agriculture

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of year-round labour the food and farming sector will require to remain productive and profitable after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Defra is considering the latest data, and working with industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements. It is a key priority of this Government to enable an innovative, productive and competitive food supply chain, which invests in its people and skills. We have announced that the Government will introduce a new pilot scheme for 2019 and 2020 enabling up to 2500 non-EEA migrant workers to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible Horticultural sector. As the UK prepares to leave the EU, Defra is working closely with the Home Office on the UK’s future immigration policy framework. Defra is also working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future food and farming labour demands.

Tree Planting: Greater Manchester

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support has been made available to support urban tree planting in Greater Manchester in order to improve air quality.

David Rutley: As part of its 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government is working with stakeholders to plant one million new trees in urban areas. We are also providing £5.7 million to kick-start the new Northern Forest along the M62 corridor, with many trees due to be planted in Greater Manchester, with planting starting this winter. From April 2011 to June 2018, the Rural Development Programme for England alone has supported the new planting of over 390,000 trees in Greater Manchester. Another 30,052 trees have been planted in Greater Manchester since 2016 via the Government backed 1m Trees for Schools programme in partnership with the Woodland Trust and the Community Forest Trust. 3,375 more trees will be planted this November. In addition to our schools programme, City of Trees planted 2,050 Government supported trees in 2017/18.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Migrant Workers

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many citizens of non-UK EU countries work in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies.

George Eustice: All government departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Appointment Rules. There is no requirement for departments to retain information on the citizenship of employees and therefore this information is not held for the department, its agencies or its non-departmental public bodies.

Industry: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the UK will bound by the terms of the EU Industrial Emissions Directive after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK is committed to maintaining environmental standards after we leave the EU and will continue to apply the existing model of integrated pollution control. The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 ensures that existing EU environmental law will continue to have effect in UK law, including the Industrial Emissions Directive.

Biodiversity

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's 25 Year Environment Plan, what steps he plans to take to ensure that development sites are monitored and levels of biodiversity maintained.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The 25 Year Environment Plan set out our ambitious plans for improving biodiversity by embedding a net gain approach to development. We have already strengthened planning policy and the revised National Planning Policy Framework, published in July, makes it clear that development should provide net gains for biodiversity. We will shortly be consulting on biodiversity net gain through the planning system.

Dangerous Dogs

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department has given to local authorities to prevent dog attacks on (a) domestic pets, (b) livestock and (c) wild animals.

David Rutley: Earlier this year, my department provided local authorities and the police with guidance which reminded them of the measures and powers they have in order both to prevent and to deal with dangerous dog attacks. These measures include the ability to issue Community Protection Notices to individuals whose dogs are causing low level nuisance, and hence to intervene before a dog becomes dangerous. Other measures include using the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 where a dog is considered to be dangerously out of control, in any place. The guidance, as with the measures, apply regardless as to whether the dog has attacked pets, livestock or wild animals. My officials have also confirmed with the National Police Chief Constables Livestock Offences Group that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 can be used in cases of attacks on other dogs or other animals, regardless as to whether a person was present.

Food: Waste

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's announcement, Action to reduce food waste announced, published in October 2018, how much of the £15 million additional funding will be allocated to South Yorkshire.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The funding will be available across England; there are no plans for funding on a regional basis.

Food: Prices

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to introduce legislative proposals to regulate food prices after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: No. It is not the Government's role to set retail food prices or to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by companies. Our research has found that consumer food prices depend on a range of factors, including commodity prices, currency exchange rates, and oil prices, and this will continue to be the case when we leave the EU. We work closely with industry to promote transparency for consumers and internationally to promote open global markets. The work we are doing helps to support a competitive domestic market so producers and retailers can offer the best prices.

Food: UK Trade with EU

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on the importation of food from EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with the DExEU Secretary and other Cabinet colleagues about our readiness for leaving the EU. In recent weeks the Government published a range of technical notices which provided information on preparations for leaving the EU, including importing and exporting.

Forestry Commission: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff (a) are employed directly by (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract in the Forestry Commission.

David Rutley: At the end of September 2018 the Westminster Government funded part of the Forestry Commission which includes Forestry Commission England/Central Services, Forest Enterprise England and Forest Research. Collectively, these organisations employ the following staff: (a) Directly employed: 1,525 (1,420 full time equivalent)(b) Seconded: 1 (0.5 full time equivalent)(c) Under contract: 121 (93 full time equivalent)

Home Office

Home Office: Capita

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  which contracts awarded by his Department are operated by Capita.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office currently holds 2 contracts with Capita, with a total contract value of £16.4mTitleStart DateEnd DateValueElectronic Monitoring Services01/02/201431/03/2020£16.0mImmigration IT Test Analysis Services01/11/201701/05/2019£440,352 The Home Office has since 2010, published details of its contracts over 10K on the Pan-Gov’t Contracts Finder portal, as part of the HMT Transparency Agenda. The link to the portal is as follows: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder .

Immigration: Fees and Charges

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total amount is of immigration fees (a) charged and (b) received by the public purse in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016, (iii) 2017 and (vi) 2018.

Caroline Nokes: FY 2018/2019: The figures for 2018/2019 will be available once the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts are audited by the National Audit Office and laid before Parliament.For information regarding the other years please see the following links and relevant page numbers:FY 2017/2018-page 126https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727179/6_4360_HO_Annual_report_WEB.PDF FY 2016/2017-page 117https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/627853/ho_annual_report_and_accounts_2016_2017.pdf FY2015/16 - page 134https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/539638/HO_AR_16_gov.pdf

Immigrants

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were given temporary admission to enter the UK in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017 and (d) 2018.

Caroline Nokes: All our transparency data can be found on  www.gov.ukImmigration bail was implemented on 15 January 2018. It replaced the former powers of temporary admission, temporary release, release on restrictions and all forms of Chief Immigration Officer and Immigration Judge bail with a single power of immigration bail. It applies to persons who are detained or liable to detention.Border Force uses this power in cases where a Border Force officer needs to make further enquiries before they make a decision on a person’s entry to the UK or when a person is released from immigration detention

Home Office: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the cost of construction for The Immigration Platform Technologies Programme.

Caroline Nokes: The whole life cost from 2013/14 to 2018/19 is £265.8m.

Home Office: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people his Department employs on the construction of the Immigration Platform Technologies programme.

Caroline Nokes: There are 360 working on the construction of the Immigration Platform Technologies programme.

Home Office: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the full criteria was for the role of Senior Responsible Owner for the Immigration Platform Technologies Programme.

Caroline Nokes: The letter appointing the Immigration Platform Technologies Senior Responsible Owner is in the public domain - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-major-projects-appointment-letters-for-senior-responsible-owners

Borders: Digital Technology

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people working on the Digital Services at the Border programme are classed as contingent labour.

Caroline Nokes: The exact number of contingent labour staff within the Programme varies dependent on the specific expertise required during the lifecycle of the Programme. Contingent Labour staff are used to provide specific, time-limited expertise, from a pool of specialists offering skills that the Civil Service can draw from when and as needed, rather than employing these specialists on a permanent basis including during periods when their skills are not needed.As at the 25th October 2018, DSAB had engaged under contract a total of 20 contingent labour contractors.

Home Office: Government Digital Service

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings Home Office Digital, Data and Technology has had with the Government Digital Service in the last 24 months.

Victoria Atkins: The Government Digital Service and the Home Office meet regularly, including planned and ad hoc meetings. The Home Office is also a member of two forums managed by GDS: the Technology and Digital Leaders Group and the Functional Leaders Group.

Police: Pensions

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the police pension revaluation proposal on officer numbers in the West Midlands.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional funding for the police as a result of the proposed pension revaluation.

Mr Nick Hurd: Our analysis shows that there will be an increase in police pensions contributions cost due mainly to the proposed change to the discount rate that is used to assess the current cost of future pensions liabilities.My Department is working closely with the police sector to understand the impact of the proposed changes and to ensure that we make the right funding decisions to support frontline services.The Home Secretary and Chancellor have regular discussions covering a number of issues including the potential impacts of changes to the pension scheme.

Crime: Females

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons his Department's publication, Economic and social costs of crime, published in July 2018 did not include an estimate of the costs of crime against women and girls.

Victoria Atkins: The Economic and Social Cost of Crime does include the costs of crime against all victims, including women and girls.It does not contain a separate breakdown for the economic and social costs of domestic abuse, but further analysis is being undertaken to estimate this.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long the pilot for EU Settlement Scheme in the North West of England that started on 28 August 2018 will last; and if he will make a statement once that trial is over.

Caroline Nokes: The first pilot phase of the EU Settlement Scheme commenced on 28 August and the last application was received on 18 October, with excellent feedback from participants. We will publish a full report with our findings as we move into the next phase of the pilot in November.

Forced Labour: Social Costs

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the validity of the methodology in his Department's July 2018 report on the Economic and social costs of modern slavery which found that the emotional costs of labour exploitation exceed those of sexual exploitation.

Victoria Atkins: In common with other Home Office Research Reports, the methodology used in the “Economic and Social Costs of Modern Slavery” report was reviewed by two independent academics. The estimate uses a technique used in health economics to quantify and monetise these harms to the victim.The reasongiven for the emotional costs of labour exploitation exceeding that for sexual exploitation is due to the greater likelihood of victims of labour exploitation experiencing alcohol dependency as a result of their exploitation. There is a likelihood of other emotional harms (fear, anxiety, depression and drug dependency) for labour and sexual exploitation. This information on the likelihood of harm was gathered through interviews with a sample of victim service providers and police officers.

Drugs and Slavery

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2018 to Question 182079, what representations his Department has made to (a) the named Secretaries of State and (b) officials of those Departments on the county lines drug trade and the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and whether he plans to have any meetings with those people.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Secretary and Home Office Ministers regularly meet their counterparts across Whitehall to ensure a co-ordinated response to cross-cutting issues, which include county lines and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.Officials meet regularly to discuss county lines and the Modern Slavery Act 2015 including through the National County Lines Working Group, which was established to oversee delivery of the County Lines Action Plan and includes representatives from the Department for Education; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government; Department for Work and Pensions; and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Police: Pensions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 6 September 2018 on quadrennial valuations of the public service pension schemes, HCWS 945 when his Department was first made aware of the full cost to policing of those changes.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has regular discussions with Treasury about public sector pensions policy, and considers the possible impact of a range of policy options. Following HM Treasury’s announcement on 6 September 2018, the Home Office commissioned the Government Actuary’s Department to carry out a full analysis of the impact for police forces based on the revised Directions published by HM Treasury.

UK Visas and Immigration: South Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where in South Wales applicants will be able to have appointments to upload biometric information under the Sopra Steria outsourcing contract for UKVI biometric services.

Caroline Nokes: There will be 2 libraries in South Wales who will host UKVI services under the contract for the provision of those services by Sopra Steria. The 2 locations will be;Cardiff main library, The Hayes CF10 1FL.Newport Central library, John Frost Square, Newport, NP20 1PA.

Counter-terrorism

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 40 of the Government document Entitled CONTEST: The United Kingdom's Strategy for Countering Terrorism, published in June 2018, what progress he has made on the Government’s aim to more than double the current capacity of the Desistance and Disengagement Programme to accommodate up to 230 individuals.

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) projected budget is and (b) cost to date has been of his Department's Desistance and Disengagement programme (i) in the trial period of that programme and (ii) since that programme has been fully rolled out.

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which external organisations have been contracted to help deliver his Department's Desistance and Disengagement programme; and if he will publish the terms under which those organisations have been so contracted.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) launched in October 2016. It focusses on those who have served prison sentences for terrorist or terrorist related offences and are due to be released on probation licence; those on Terrorism Prevention Investigation Measures (TPIMs): and those who have returned from conflict zones in Syria or Iraq and are subject to Temporary Exclusion Orders (TEOs).We are committed to publishing data where security requirements allow and will continue to publish an annual report on our counter-terrorism work under CONTEST. We do not provide detailed information about the funding allocation of DDP activity.The Home Office delivers the DDP in conjunction with non-governmental organisations and experienced practitioners. Due to the sensitive nature of this important work, we do not release details of individuals and organisations selected to support the programme or the terms on which they have been contracted.

Anti-corruption Champion

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2017 to Question 58106 on Anti-corruption Champion, where on GOV.UK his Department has published the costs incurred by the Government's Anti-Corruption Champion.

Mr Ben Wallace: Pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2017 to Question 58106, the details requested by the Hon. Member, for expenses data for the Anti-Corruption Champion that was published in the Cabinet Office Quarterly Transparency Return in March 2017, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604656/Sir_Eric_Pickles_transparency_return_-_Gifts_-__Oct_-_Dec_2016__.csv/preview; https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604657/Sir_Eric_Pickles_transparency_return_-_Hospitality_-__Oct_-_Dec_2016___1_.csv/preview; and https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604654/Sir_Eric_Pickles_transparency_return_-_Overseas_travel__Oct_-_Dec_2016_.csv/preview.In December 2017, responsibility for publishing the costs incurred by the Government's Anti-Corruption Champion was transferred to the Home Office. Transparency data for the Anti-Corruption Champion for 2018 will be published in the next Home Office transparency publishing round in December and made available on GOV.UK.

Migrant Workers: Fees and Charges

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much money was raised for the public purse from the Immigration Skills Charge in the first financial year in which it was collected.

Caroline Nokes: Information on income received from Immigration Skills Charge payments for 2017/18 is not yet available but will be stated in the Home Office Trust Statement. Figures for 2017/18 will be available once the Home Office Trust Statement has been audited by the National Audit Office and published.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Immigration of 21 June 2018 on EU Settlement Scheme, Official Report, column, 508, what steps he is taking to ensure that victims of trafficking and modern slavery are not excluded from the scheme as a result of criminal convictions received in (a) the UK and (b) other countries.

Caroline Nokes: In line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement, conduct (including any criminal convictions) before the end of the implementation period will be assessed according to the current EU public policy and security tests for deportation, as set out in the EEA Regulations 2016.The decision to deport under the EU public policy or security tests must be based exclusively on the personal conduct of the individual concerned, which must present a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests in society and must take into account proportionality considerations; including how long the person has resided in the UK, their age, state of health, family and economic circumstances, social and cultural integration, and the extent of their links with the country of origin.Victims of trafficking and modern slavery who have committed crimes either in the UK or overseas are not exempt from this assessment. As with the operation of the statutory defence for victims of slavery forced to commit criminal acts by their traffickers (s45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015), an assessment will be made on a case-by-case basis of the relationship between the crime committed and the circumstances of their trafficking or enslavement. This will be considered as part of the proportionality assessment set out above.

Disclosure and Barring Service: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  how many staff (a) are employed directly by (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract in the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Victoria Atkins: The staff numbers in DBS are as follows: HeadcountFull time EquivalentPermanent staff968877.45Staff on secondment00Staff on Fixed Term Contract12682.29Specialist contractors66This data is correct as of 30th October 2018.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling local authorities to include powers within their Special Cumulative Impact Policies to make the Reduce the Strength initiatives mandatory within a given area where the need for them is proven to exist.

Victoria Atkins: Applying a standard licence condition to all premises in a cumulative impact zone would represent a significant departure from a key principle of the Licensing Act 2003, that conditions must be tailored to the individual type, location and characteristics of the premises concerned. In addition, there has been no large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing voluntary Reducing the Strength schemes. Their impact in reducing alcohol harms remains unproven.

Police: Pensions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 324 of Budget 2018, how much funding he plans to allocate to policing in 2019-20 from the reserves for additional pension costs for Departments as a result of the pensions valuations process.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Secretary will review police spending power and further options for reform when he presents the provision police funding settlement in December. Funding for 2019/20 will include appropriate support for pensions costs from the Reserve, which will be confirmed in due course.

Banks and Building Societies: CCTV

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of routine wiping of CCTV footage at banks and building society premises on the police's ability to investigate (a) bank fraud and (b) identity theft.

Mr Nick Hurd: No assessment has been made. However, the Government is working to reduce the number of victims of fraud through the Joint Fraud Taskforce. This includes delivery of the Banking Protocol which has prevented over £16m from falling into fraudsters’ hands and led to over 150 arrests, and launching a banking Code of Practice that sets consistent standards and best practice for banks to identify and support victims of fraud and financial abuse.

Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a minimum price per unit of alcohol for beers and ciders.

Victoria Atkins: In December 2016, Public Health England published an evidence review of the public health burden of alcohol and the cost-effectiveness of alcohol control policies. The review presents international evidence on the effectiveness of price-based interventions such as minimum unit pricing in reducing levels of consumption and the harms associated with alcohol.The introduction of minimum unit pricing in England remains under review pending the impact of its implementation in Scotland.

Banks and Building Societies: CCTV

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will require banks and building societies to retain CCTV footage at their premises for a fixed period of time in order for it to be available for the investigation of bank and identity fraud.

Mr Nick Hurd: The retention of CCTV footage is covered by data protection legislation and the Information Commissioner’s Data Protection Code of Practice for surveillance cameras, and by the Surveillance Camera Code, issued under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.The latter is voluntary for banks and building societies but adherence to it is encouraged. Both of these codes do not prescribe specific minimum or maximum retention periods, but require a proportionate approach allowing images and other information to be retained for as long as is necessary to serve the purposes of the system in question but no longer.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Migrant Workers

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many citizens of non-UK EU countries work in (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies.

Alistair Burt: As at 30 September DFID has 115 Home Civil Servants (HCS), and no agency or non-departmental public bodies, that have declared their nationality as non-UK EU.

Department for International Development: Procurement

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 176534 on Department for International Development: Procurement, when the new funding framework is planned to be finalised.

Alistair Burt: The International Multi-Disciplinary Programme Framework (IMDP) is due to commence April 2019.

Yemen: Cholera

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what funding her Department has allocated to tackle the cholera outbreak in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The UK contributed 25% of the costs of the first ever cholera vaccination campaigns in Yemen early this year, through our funding to the Global Vaccines Alliance. This has helped to protect nearly a million men, women and children. Last year, we provided over £8 million in targeted cholera support to UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration. This support aimed to provide medical supplies to half a million people, safe access to chlorinated water to 300,000 people, and rehabilitate medical facilities used by 250,000 people. In addition, the UK’s overall £170 million in aid to Yemen this financial year (2018/19) is tackling the underlying causes of cholera by helping provide emergency food, nutrition support, and clean water and sanitation to millions of people.

Gaza: Overseas Aid

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether irregularities in UK official development assistance spending were discovered during programme audits and field visits to Gaza in each of the last two years; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The UK is part of the international effort to provide critical humanitarian and development support to the civilian population in Gaza. DFID is aware of a small number of minor irregularities in UK official development assistance spending on bilateral programmes in Gaza in the last two years. There are inherent risks to delivering aid in Gaza, which is why the UK has stringent controls in place to prevent the diversion of aid and only works with organisations that have a strong track record of delivering humanitarian aid in difficult places. We take immediate and strong action when any irregularities are reported and work closely with partners to prevent future cases. We do not disclose individual case details to protect the integrity of investigations, anonymity of informants and help ensure that we can get the best deal for the UK taxpayer through recovery of funds. In Gaza, our rigorous controls include: monitoring spending closely; mapping the flow of funds through each organisation involved in delivery; regular audits of programme spending; and field visits. These all enable us to deliver critical assistance to people in need whilst protecting UK taxpayers’ money. Additionally, DFID aid complies with UK and international counter terrorism legislation and our funding agreements commit partners to understand and comply with international counter terrorism legislation.

Palestinians: Females

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the protection of women's rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories; and what steps her Department is taking to promote the protection of women's rights in those Territories.

Alistair Burt: According to UN Women, while there has been progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs), for example a closing gender gap on literacy rates and amendments to laws discriminatory to women’s rights, the volatile context means this progress is fragile. The occupation and political situation can increase women’s vulnerability to social and economic insecurity and violence; this is heightened in Gaza where the situation remains dire. Female unemployment across the OPTs stood at around 40% in 2017, whereas for males it was 24%. The last available survey from 2010/11 shows that 37% (around 30% in the West Bank and over 51% in Gaza) of ever-married women suffered from a form of violence within the household. UN Women and other UN agencies support the Palestinian Authority in the implementation of gender-sensitive plans and policy-level initiatives to ensure the protection of women’s rights. The UK is a long-term supporter of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which works to ensure gender equality and the protection of Palestine refugees’ rights in all its programming. UNRWA supports around 1 million Palestinian refugee women across the OPTs and protects their rights to health, water and sanitation, shelter and food security. UNRWA ensures an inclusive approach to protecting children’s right to an education (covering 160,000 girls in the West Bank and Gaza), provides antenatal and postnatal care for more than 50,000 women, and works to protect women and children from violence through access to services and community engagement. The UK is also working to protect women’s economic rights across the OPTs. Our Palestinian Market Development Programme supported a total of 219 female-owned managed enterprises from 2013 to 2018 and helped to create over 800 jobs for women. A new £38 million economic development programme will address barriers faced by women to employment and economic opportunities.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Rukban Camp in the Tanf zone of Syria; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Lord Bates’ statement on 16 October to the House of Lords expressed the UK’s increasing concern regarding the estimated 50,000 people currently stranded at the Rukban camp. A recent UN mission revealed rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation, with access to those at the Rukban Berm extremely constrained. To date, the UN has not been granted sustained access by the Assad regime. The UK urges all parties to ensure unconditional and sustained humanitarian access that will enable regular aid deliveries to take place. We continue to call on all parties to ensure that the approved humanitarian convoy from Damascus to Rukban takes place, providing the assistance these people badly need.

Scotland Office

Members: Correspondence

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Glasgow North East of 3 August 2018 on the Glasgow School of Art fire and Sauchiehall Street.

David Mundell: The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland is required to respond to such correspondence within 20 working days; however, on this occasion due to an administrative oversight a response was not issued. A response to your letter was provided on 31 October 2018.

Cabinet Office

Local Government: Elections

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether EU citizens will be eligible to (a) stand as candidates and (b) vote in local government elections in England and Wales in 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU (i) with and (ii) without a deal.

Chloe Smith: The issue of electoral voting rights is part of the wider issue of the rights of EU citizens and UK expats that need to be considered during the Brexit preparations. The rights of both sides should be taken together. The UK pushed hard in negotiations for reciprocal voting rights for EU citizens in the UK, and UK nationals in the EU, but they will not form part of the Withdrawal Agreement. The Government has made clear that we will seek to discuss this issue bilaterally with individual Member States with a view to protecting the rights of UK nationals resident in those Member States, where they will not otherwise continue.We do not anticipate any changes to the current UK primary legislative framework for candidacy and voting rights being made before the May 2019 English and Northern Ireland local elections. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are responsible for their own franchises.To provide certainty to prospective candidates, it will be the policy intent of the UK Government that candidates who are validly nominated and elected at or before the May 2019 local elections in England and Northern Ireland should be able to serve that term of office in full, notwithstanding any wider changes to voting and candidacy rights in the future.

Diabetes

Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people have died from type two diabetes and related conditions in each of the last ten years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA response 
(PDF Document, 66.65 KB)

Government Departments: Data Protection

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many data breaches were recorded by each government department in each of the last four years.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office does not require central Government Departments to report their personal data breaches and so does not hold this information centrally. In June of 2018 the Minimum Cyber Security Standards were published requiring each department to have a plan to reporting data breaches. It states that Departments shall have communication plans in the event of an incident which includes notifying (for example) the relevant supervisory body, senior accountable individuals, the Departmental press office, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Government Security Group (Cabinet Office), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or law enforcement as applicable (not exhaustive).

Government Departments: Data Protection

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent estimate he has made of the number of separate teams or organisations throughout government tasked with protecting information or monitoring data breaches.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office does not record centrally the number of separate teams or organisations tasked with protecting information or monitoring data breaches. However, the Government Chief Security Officer (GSCO) is ensuring that each department has a Senior Security Advisor responsible for advising their boards on security risks and appropriate steps to mitigate them.

Government Departments: ICT

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many contracts the Government holds with cloud based providers to store data; and what the total cost of these contracts to the public purse is.

Oliver Dowden: Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder at the following link:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Government Chief Security Officer: Public Appointments

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 September 2018 to Question 169860 on Government Chief Security Officer: Public Appointments, when his Department plans to recruit the Government Chief Security Officer.

Oliver Dowden: The original recruitment campaign for the role of Government Chief Security Officer, was unsuccessful. The Cabinet Office is now seeking a 2 year fixed term candidate for this role and this recruitment exercise is underway. Following this, a full recruitment exercise will be undertaken to fill this post permanently.

Cabinet Office: Consultants

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether competitive tender was used for his Department's consultancy contracts on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Lidington: Cabinet Office’s consultancy contracts were let through competitive tender.

Civil Service Commission: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff (a) are employed directly by, (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract in the Civil Service Commission.

Oliver Dowden: The Civil Service Commission currently employs 19 members of staff (18.2 Full Time Equivalent). The secretariat is staffed entirely by civil servants on loan/secondment from a range of government departments, and new recruits are employed by the Cabinet Office prior to being seconded to the Commission. The Commission also provides secretariat services for the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) and the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) from within these staff numbers. The Commission publishes this information, as at 31 March, each year as part of its Annual Report and Accounts, which can be viewed on the Commission’s website, Gov.uk and is available in the libraries in the Houses of Parliament.

Treasury

Ports

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the details of arrangements for clearing goods quickly through UK ports after 29 March 2019.

Mel Stride: Government ministers and officials have been engaging extensively with key UK ports to discuss the challenges that the introduction of customs declarations would pose Roll-on Roll-off (RoRo) port environment as well as potential mitigations for Day 1of a ‘no deal’.We have also begun communicating targeted technical delivery critical messages and actions to groups of impacted stakeholders and businesses, for example on RoRo, Excise and VAT software, through our technical notices. By the end of the year, HMRC will provide more information on what people can do should they wish to make preparations and when they should do this.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much additional revenue has accrued to the public purse in taxation on (a) beer, (b) wine and (c) spirits since the introduction of the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme in 2017.

Robert Jenrick: The Alcohol Wholesalers Registration Scheme was introduced as one of a number of HMRC initiatives to tackle alcohol excise duty fraud. HMRC assesses all applications to ascertain whether the business and key persons within it are fit and proper for approval.  Approved businesses are monitored to ensure compliance with the scheme and to minimise the risk of illicit alcohol entering the wholesale market. To date HMRC has approved approximately 8000 businesses and over 800 applications have been refused.  HMRC publishes alcohol receipts on a monthly basis on the UK Trade Info website. Multiple factors influence revenue receipts. Therefore, HMRC is unable to directly attribute any increases to introduction of the Alcohol Wholesalers Registration Scheme.

Borders: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total cost will be of developing the 12 critical IT systems required at the border after the UK has left the EU.

Mel Stride: While we remain confident that we will secure a positive and mutually beneficial deal with the EU, there remain a number of border-related projects that have to be delivered in the unlikely event of no deal being agreed. Some of these projects were initiated before the UK decided to leave and so are not exclusively EU exit related. The information requested is not held centrally, however, the 12 border-related projects listed in the NAO report are all at different stages of development with a number part of wider programmes. As such, it would not be possible to attach a single overarching cost at this time.

Treasury: Migrant Workers

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many citizens of non-UK EU countries work in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies.

Robert Jenrick: All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules.Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose.

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the removal of VAT on digital (a) books, (b) magazines and (c) newspapers; and if he will make a statement.

Mel Stride: The Chancellor of the Exchequer discusses a range of issues with Cabinet colleagues, including VAT.

Gaming Machines

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the proposed time frame is to reduce the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals to £2.

Robert Jenrick: As announced at Budget the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals will be reduced to £2 from 1 October 2019. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport intend to lay the draft regulations before Parliament, for the usual process of approval, in due course.

Borders: ICT

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that all 12 of the critical IT systems required at the border are ready in the event that the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 without a deal.

Mel Stride: All of the 12 critical IT systems are subject to close scrutiny within departments, alongside scrutiny by the Border Delivery Group and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority where applicable. For programmes where there are delivery risks, departments have mitigation plans to address the risks, and have ensured there are appropriate contingency plans in place.

Revenue and Customs: Data Protection

Jo Platt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many data incidents were recorded by HMRC in each of the last four years.

Mel Stride: The information requested is provided in the table below: YearNumber of personal data Incidents2014/15382015/16312016/17152017/1830

Poverty

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2018 to Question 182119 on Poverty, what steps he is taking to empower civil servants in his Department deliver on civil service competency 8 delivering value for money in the context of policy formulation relating to poverty reduction.

Elizabeth Truss: HM Treasury carefully considers the impacts of policy choices on households at different levels of income. The department publishes distributional analysis of the impacts of decisions on tax, welfare, and spending on public services at each fiscal event, and has done so since 2010. The government has set out that it is committed to tackling the root causes of poverty, including education and worklessness. This approach is working, with 1,000,000 fewer people, including 300,000 fewer children, in absolute poverty (before housing costs) since 2010, both record lows.

Personal Income

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Chequers proposals set out in the Government's White Paper entitled The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, published in July 2018, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential effect of the Chequers proposals on average net household income.

John Glen: The Government’s proposals, as set out in the 12 July White Paper, are the best way to protect jobs and avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. With negotiations ongoing, it would not be practical or sensible to set out the details of exactly how the Government will assess the final deal. When we bring forward the vote on the final deal, Parliament will be presented with the appropriate analysis to make an informed decision.

Apprentices: South Yorkshire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s announcement, Package of measures unveiled to boost apprenticeships, published in October 2018, how much and what proportion of the £90 million of additional funding will be allocated to (a) South Yorkshire and (b) Barnsley.

Elizabeth Truss: The apprenticeship programme is based on employer demand. Therefore, HMT do not hold information on how funding is distributed regionally.

Office for Budget Responsibility: Staff

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer,  how many staff (a) are employed directly by (b) are seconded to and (c) work under contract in the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Robert Jenrick: As at the 30th September 2018 the Office of Budget Responsibility employed 30.08 FTE (Full time Equivalent) Staff. There were no staff seconded to the department or working under contract.

Brexit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library research or analysis undertaken or commissioned by his Department on the Brexit dividend.

Elizabeth Truss: Once we have left the EU we will no longer pay annual membership subscriptions and this money will be available to spend on our domestic priorities. At Budget 2018, the OBR estimated the gap between the financial settlement and the membership counterfactual. This is set out in table 4.30 in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

Police: Pensions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 24 of Budget 2018, how much funding from the reserves for additional pension costs for Departments as a result of the pensions valuations process he plans to allocate to policing in 2019-20.

Elizabeth Truss: At Budget 2016 we identified likely pressures on employer contributions to public service pensions of £2 billion and set out that these costs would need to be met within existing budgets. The valuations indicate that there will be additional costs to employers, above the level previously envisaged. The Budget confirms that additional funding of £4.7 billion has been allocated to the reserve to cover these expected additional costs. As the Chancellor said in his Budget speech, the Home Secretary will review police spending power and further options for reform when he presents the provisional police funding settlement in December.

Revenue and Customs: Blockchain

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2018 to Question 182766 on Revenue and Customs: Blockchain, what the (a) specifications, (b) length of time and (c) outcomes were of the proof of concept.

Mel Stride: The pilot focussed on building a single ‘permissioned’ Blockchain that would could be used to inform a trader’s ‘Authorised Economic Operator’ status. The proof of concept ran for six weeks, and established that government could use Blockchain to securely share the results of sensitive risk checks to improve the efficiencies of certain customs processes. Any significant implementation of Blockchain would require significant further work by HMRC.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget 2018, if he will publish the PAYE restrictions that will be placed on R&D tax allowances for small and medium businesses.

Mel Stride: As announced at Budget 2018, Finance Bill 2019-20 will introduce a limit on the amount of payable tax credit that can be claimed by a company under the R&D SME tax relief. The limit will be set at three times the company’s total PAYE and National Insurance contribution (NICs) payment for the period. The change will have effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2020. Any loss that a company cannot surrender for a payable credit can be carried forward and used against future profits. The government will also consult on how the cap will be applied, to minimise any impact on genuine UK businesses.

Business: Capital Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget 2018, what assessment he has made of the effect on business investment of the annual investment allowance being raised for a fixed duration of two years.

Mel Stride: As announced at Budget, the Annual Investment Allowance level will be increased fivefold to £1m for two years, taking effect from 1 January 2019. This measure is designed to temporarily stimulate business investment in the economy by providing an increased incentive for businesses to invest in plant or machinery. The impact on business investment has been considered within the wider package of capital allowances measures announced on the Budget day.Taken together these measures are expected to increase the level of business investment by 0.4 per cent by the end of the forecast period, as explained by the Office for Budget Responsibility on page 50 of their latest Economic and fiscal outlook: https://cdn.obr.uk/EFO_October-2018.pdf.

Non-domestic Rates: Small Businesses

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget 2018, how the reduction in business rates for small businesses will be funded.

Mel Stride: Local authorities will be fully compensated by the Exchequer for the loss of income as a result of the business rates measures announced at Budget.

Research: Finance

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.4 of Budget 2018, whether the £1.6 billion research and development funding is in addition to the research and development funding announced in table 4.1 of Autumn Budget 2017.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the line entitled research and development funding in table 4.1 of Budget 2018, if he will publish a table detailing the allocation of research and development spending in each year included in that forecast.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 2016, the government has committed an additional £7 billion from the National Productivity Investment Fund for research and development by 2021/22 – the largest increase for 40 years. Autumn Budget 2018 also provided £60m (see scorecard table 2.1) in support of nuclear fusion, quantum technologies and University Enterprise Zones. This additional funding, together with existing record increases to public R&D spending, meant that government was able to detail plans for allocating over £1.6 billion of investments in innovation and support for key technologies which will drive economic growth across the UK. Spending breakdowns are available here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/731507/research-innovation-funding-allocation-2017-2021.pdf

Tree Planting

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to line 40 of table 2.1 of Budget 2028, how he plans to fund the additional £50 million of carbon credits for qualifying tree planting under the Woodland Carbon Guarantee Scheme announced in paragraph 4.71 of that Budget.

Robert Jenrick: The government’s Woodland Carbon Guarantee will deliver tree planting to help offset carbon emissions and support wildlife. The government is providing up to £50 million of guaranteed future payments over the next thirty years to those who plant qualifying woodland, to purchase carbon credits as trees grow and sequester carbon. Those carbon credits could then be sold, reducing the overall cost to taxpayers. The government will meet this guarantee at future spending reviews. Line 40 (urban tree planting) is a different measure, providing government funding to plant valued trees in and around our towns and cities.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Farmers: Finance

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Digital Economy Act 2017 on the amount of money farmers receive for companies renting land for telephone masts.

Margot James: The Electronic Communications Code (ECC) was recently reformed as part of the Digital Economy Act 2017. These reforms were intended to reduce the cost of providing communications infrastructure and make it easier for operators to deploy such infrastructure. The new Code came into force on 28 December 2017. The Regulatory Impact Assessment published by Government estimated that the ECC reforms could lead to a reduction in average market rents (as compared to rates agreed before reforms to the ECC). However, the eventual impact is difficult to predict during this period of transition in which operators and site providers adapt to the new legislation. During this period, where the market is adjusting and settling, good working relationships between site providers and code operators are critical, and we encourage all parties to continue their efforts to reach mutually acceptable agreements. A joint statement released in August reaffirmed the commitment made by DCMS, industry, CLA and RICS to work collaboratively to implement the ECC. My Department will continue to work with stakeholders, including representatives from industry, landowners, representative bodies and Ofcom, to inform the implementation of the new Code. We will monitor developments carefully and, as outlined in the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/732496/Future_Telecoms_Infrastructure_Review.pdf) will consider a formal review of the impact of the ECC reforms.

BBC: Contracts

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with the National Audit Office on the potential merits on that Office undertaking a review of commissioning contracts within the BBC that are of a value of less than £1million.

Margot James: The Electronic Communications Code (ECC) was recently reformed as part of the Digital Economy Act 2017. These reforms were intended to reduce the cost of providing communications infrastructure and make it easier for operators to deploy such infrastructure. The new Code came into force on 28 December 2017. The Regulatory Impact Assessment published by Government estimated that the ECC reforms could lead to a reduction in average market rents (as compared to rates agreed before reforms to the ECC). However, the eventual impact is difficult to predict during this period of transition in which operators and site providers adapt to the new legislation. During this period, where the market is adjusting and settling, good working relationships between site providers and code operators are critical, and we encourage all parties to continue their efforts to reach mutually acceptable agreements. A joint statement released in August reaffirmed the commitment made by DCMS, industry, CLA and RICS to work collaboratively to implement the ECC. My Department will continue to work with stakeholders, including representatives from industry, landowners, representative bodies and Ofcom, to inform the implementation of the new Code. We will monitor developments carefully and, as outlined in the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/732496/Future_Telecoms_Infrastructure_Review.pdf) will consider a formal review of the impact of the ECC reforms.

Food: Advertising

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it remains his policy that the provisions of the restrictions on the advertising of high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products apply to (a) broadcast and (b) online media.

Margot James: In the second chapter of our Childhood Obesity Plan, published in June 2018, we committed to consult on introducing further advertising restrictions, including a 9pm watershed on TV advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products and similar protection for children viewing adverts online, with the aim of limiting children’s exposure to HFSS advertising, and incentivising sugar and calorie reduction. We will explore options to ensure that any restrictions are proportionate, help to incentivise reformulation in line with the aims of the sugar and calorie reduction programmes, and consider a focus on those products that children consume and most contribute to the problem of childhood obesity.

Internet: Advertising

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has plans to introduce legislative proposals to enable the Advertising Standards Authority to ensure that online platforms have the same level of accountability as Television broadcasters in relation to online advertising.

Margot James: We are engaging with regulators, online platforms and advertising companies to ensure that the principles that govern advertising in traditional media apply and are enforced online more broadly. Thee White Paper on online harms will be published in winter 2018/19. This will consider the full range of possible solutions to address issues relating to online safety and ensure industry takes responsibility for harms, including legal and regulatory changes where necessary.

Historic Buildings: Conservation

Rebecca Pow: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to protect heritage buildings.

Michael Ellis: We are responsible for ensuring that England’s historic environment is properly protected, promoted and conserved for the benefit of present and future generations. The principle way in which Government protects buildings of special architectural or historic interest is through the listing system. In addition, our arm’s length bodies provide valuable support to those looking after heritage and we continue to work closely with them to protect buildings all over the country.

Broadband: Hampshire

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of his Department's ability to meet the universal service obligation for superfast broadband coverage in Hampshire.

Margot James: The Universal Service Obligation was set in secondary legislation in March 2018 and is now being implemented by Ofcom so that by 2020 everyone will have the legal right to high speed broadband of at least 10Mbps. It is designed as a safety-net to ensure no-one is left behind. In terms of superfast broadband coverage, thanks to £1.7bn investment of public money in the Broadband Delivery UK Superfast programme, 95% of Hampshire now has access to at least 24 Megabits per second. We also have ambitions for full fibre coverage, which will deliver future-proof broadband connections. We announced £200 million of funding in the Budget to trial a model to deliver full fibre to premises in rural and remote areas. This is the first step of an ‘outside-in’ approach which seeks to ensure rural areas will be connected at the same pace as the rest of the country.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Repairs and Maintenance

Jo Stevens: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the cost to the public purse has been of emergency repairs on the parliamentary estate in each year since 2010.

Tom Brake: In this answer, we define emergency repairs as reactive maintenance. Planned and preventative maintenance (PPM) are preventative measures to help negate emergency repairs. Reactive maintenance relates to approximately 30,000 annual calls for day to day repairs, such as lighting and heating issues, sticking doors, and worn carpet. Planned and preventative maintenance relates to a mix of planned statutory maintenance, such as testing of lifts and fire alarms, and preventative maintenance, such as servicing of heating systems or catering equipment etc.In addition, much work is underway across the Parliamentary Estate to keep our buildings operational. Our focus through these ongoing projects, is to provide a safe working environment, while making sure that the work of Parliament can continue without interruption. The cost of these repairs on the parliamentary estate in each year since 2010 has been: 2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18Description£,000£,000£,000£,000£,000£,000£,000£,000Reactive Maintenance2,891.32,571.32,244.92,124.81,718.81,732.71,779.02,535.4Planned Maintenance (PPM)6,413.97,017.16,703.86,291.06,401.26,669.16,555.15,746.8Minor Maintenance Works-2,715.13,684.24,698.211,468.07,294.19,524.14,044.9Large Maintenance works11,547.627,087.325,000.033,000.044,000.064,000.083,000.0114,000.0Subtotal 20,852.839,390.837,632.946,114.063,588.079,695.9100,858.2126,327.1Staff to deliver the above7,729.47,866.87,942.28,936.48,179.28,179.38,043.28,064.5Total Costs28,582.247,257.645,575.155,050.471,767.287,875.2108,901.4134,391.6I would be happy to arrange for the hon. Member to meet with officials to discuss this matter further if that is desired.

Northern Ireland Office

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care the potential merits of introducing the HPV vaccination programme for boys in Northern Ireland.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Health is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. The honourable Member may find it useful to refer to the answer I gave on 29 October which confirms that preparatory work is underway within the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to allow for the introduction of HPV to boys in Northern Ireland, if and when such a decision is taken by a Health Minister in Northern Ireland. This approach reflects the fact that health policy is devolved in Northern Ireland and so the decision whether to introduce the HPV vaccine for boys is one for Northern Ireland Ministers to take.

Police: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent representations has she made to the Chancellor on the allocation of additional resources for policing in Northern Ireland in preparation for the UK leavings the EU.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I understand the PSNI has submitted its case for additional resources and that bid is currently being considered. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is in regular contact with both the Chancellor and the Chief Constable about the specific and unique concerns in Northern Ireland and is focussed on protecting the best interests of Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations.

Northern Ireland Office: Pay

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in his Department are paid less than £8.75 per hour.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I can confirm that no members of staff in the Northern Ireland Office are paid less than £8.75 per hour.

Northern Ireland Office: Pay

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in her Department are paid less than £10.20 per hour.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I can confirm that in London no members of Northern Ireland Office staff are paid less than the London Living Wage of £10.20 per hour. Staff members of the department working outside London are not paid less than the UK Living Wage.

Northern Ireland Office: Apprentices

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many apprentices are employed in his Department.

Mr Shailesh Vara: I can confirm there are currently two apprentices employed in the Northern Ireland Office.